Three people were stabbed in a spate of separate attacks across Southwark last weekend as fears of escalating violence at the end of lockdown are realised.
On Friday night (July 24), a man was found stabbed in both arms and suffering severe blood loss on Old Kent Road at around 11.40pm.
In an incident not believed to be related, around an hour later, another man was found stabbed in Falmouth Road’s Whitworth House, Elephant & Castle, after a call to paramedics. The male victim was attacked in the arm and leg. It is believed he was attacked by ‘unknown assailants’. Neither victims were in critical conditions.
Meanwhile in Nunhead, around the same time that night (Saturday, July 25), the London Ambulance Service contacted police after treating a female victim – age unknown – who survived a stabbing in Ivydale Road. A suspect has since been taken into custody.
Days earlier on Thursday, July 23, police had scrambled to Harlescott Road near Nunhead Cemetery after reports of a group of men, armed with knives, fighting in broad daylight at 6.10pm near Ivydale School. A man, in his late teens, had been stabbed in the confrontation and was hospitalised. Two people were arrested and a Section 60 was put in place until 7am the following day.
During lockdown recorded crimes fell dramatically – with overall offences dropping by 19.5 per cent between February and March – though some offences, including domestic violence, markedly rose.
The number of referrals to King’s College Hospital’s safeguarding children team due to stabbings halved between January and March compared with the previous three months – dropping from an average of 20 to 10 per quarter.
Another key concern – and stretch on the police’s resources – is the proliferation of unlicensed music events all over London.
Since the now notorious incident in Brixton’s Angell Town, where missiles were thrown at officers, the Met has taken more than 530 calls about illegal raves; 86 of which were all on one day alone, Saturday, July 18. Officers are now responding to around 23 every single day. Parties broken up in Southwark include regular gatherings in Dulwich’s Dawson’s Hill and Burgess Park in the early hours.
Four months of violence on our streets
July 19
Teenager in ‘stable condition’ after being knifed six times in a suspected group fight near Bermondsey’s Arnold Estate
July 14
Two men hospitalised after stabbing in Silwood Estate’s Alpine Road. Both survive the attack shortly before 6pm.
July 13
Members of the public restrain a man on Crystal Palace Road as police rush to reports of a ‘gun fight’ between two men at 10am. A 31-year-old man was arrested and later charged.
July 11
30-year-old Jahreau Shepherd dies in double stabbing in Kennington’s Black Prince Estate. A 26-year-old was also hospitalised.
July 8
Eighteen-year-old Donnell Rhule knifed to death in Dulwich’s Kingswood Estate just yards from a now closed police counter. Three men have now been charged including 25-year-old Sean Robinson from Sydenham’s Newlands Park.
July 4 – Super Saturday – Pubs and bars reopen across England
June 29
Police found a man suffering ‘multiple injuries’ in Albany Road shortly before midnight on a Friday night.
June 15
A man was taken to hospital in a critical condition after being stabbed at a ‘group fight’ at an AirBnB party in Denmark Hill just before 4am. Three men were arrested for GBH with intent – with police saying it was pure luck it hadn’t been a murder investigation.
June 10
Dawn Bennett found stabbed in her Lewisham Way home at around 9pm. She died six days later in hospital, on her 59th birthday. A 31-year-old man was arrested and charged with her murder.
May 31
999 operators take a call just before 5am from a woman in her 50s who says a man forced entry and assaulted her at home in East Dulwich’s Hindman’s Road before slashing her 60-something partner in the face. Minutes later officers were called to Crystal Palace Road where they found a man in his 20s with stab wounds. The couple were arrested on suspicion of GBH.
May 29
A man in his 20s was stabbed in Walworth’s Rodney Road. Enquiries continue.
May 27
Officers break up a ‘fight about to happen’ between a ‘group of youths’ in Albany Road. A concerned passer-by phoned 999 at 8.30pm.
May 26
Officers called at 6.40pm to a stabbing with witnesses reporting a hostile crowd in Wells Way in the lead up to the attack. A teenager was found injured near Burgess Park.
May 22
London’s Air Ambulance lands in Nursery Row Park – the first of three visits in the next few days – after a man is found in Walworth’s Browning Street with stab injuries. Police had been initially called to the Rockingham Estate near Elephant and Castle at around 7.39pm to reports of a stabbing.
May 13
Murder investigation launched after nineteen-year-old Francois Kablan, from Amina Way, dies after being stabbed in Great Dover Street on Wednesday, May 13. Police made a number of arrests and charges.
May 8
Abbey Street and Old Jamaica Road cordoned off after a man in his 20s presents in hospital with a stab injury after a reported ‘fight’ in Bermondsey’s Arnold Estate.
April 20
Man in his 50s stabbed from behind by an assailant with a knife in broad daylight in Burgess Park. In a police appeal, officers said they had no motive for the incident near Neate Street. The victim was discharged from hospital within days.
April 9
A nineteen-year-old teenage boy was stabbed near Rye Lane’s Tesco Express at around 9pm. He was not in a life-threatening condition. Enquiries continue.
March 23 – Lockdown imposed