Ilford stabbing: Pensioner fighting for his life after being knifed in east London park

A pensioner is fighting for life after a stabbing in a park in east London.

Police and paramedics raced to the scene of the attack in South Park, off a quiet residential road in Ilford, at around 10am.

The man was rushed to hospital after suffering life threatening injuries, police said.

Pictures posted on social media show an entrance to the park cordoned off as police officers carry out an investigation.

Mohammed Hussein, who has been the manager of nearby Noori Foods for eight months and has lived in Ilford all his life, told the Standard people were concerned by the “horrific” stabbing.

He said: “It’s horrific, we are really close by. I have never heard of such a thing in this area.

“We have customers who live quite close, residential people who are worried that such a thing has happened.

“I heard the police sirens earlier but didn’t realise until later what had happened.

“That this is happening right next to our doorstep, it is worrying.”

Danny O'Brien, founder of nonprofit group anti-knife UK, lives ten minutes from the park where the attack happened.

He told the Standard: “It seems like it was a random attack. I hope he pulls through.

“I’ve lived in Ilford 18 years and [knife crime] has never been as bad as it’s been in the last year.

“We keep on saying it is a youth problem but it is a community problem.

“We are human beings and even animals treat their own kind better.

“People aren’t shocked about it. They don’t do anything about it until it happens to them.”

A Met Police spokesman said: “Police were called at 10.02am on Tuesday, February 21, by the London Ambulance Service to reports of a man found suffering stab wounds in South Park, off Green Lane, Ilford.

“The man in his 80s was taken to an east London hospital. His injuries are potentially life-threatening at this stage.

“A crime scene is in place and officers are in attendance.”

The spokesman added that there have been no arrests.