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London's knife crime epidemic continues with three fatal stabbings

A man holding a knife - PA
A man holding a knife - PA

London's knife-crime epidemic continued this weekend with three fatal stabbings in the space of 24 hours.

The number of killings in the capital is now nearing its highest level in more than a decade, with 130 recorded this year, compared with 132 in 2018.

A 27-year-old man was stabbed to death and three men were wounded at a house party in Whitechapel, east London, on Saturday.

Seven men were arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder after police were called to a flat just  before 9am.

Six suspects, aged between 23 and 29, were in custody on Sunday night, while one, aged 26, was in hospital being treated for injuries sustained during the attack.

Elsewhere, a 26-year-old man was fatally stabbed yards from West Ealing train station in west London in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Hours later, two men were stabbed during a fight in Ilford, east London.

A 24-year-old man was taken to hospital and pronounced dead at 12.36am.

A man in his 20s was wounded, but his condition was not said to be life-threatening.

Police have launched murder investigations relating to the fatal stabbings in Ealing and Ilford on Sunday.

No arrests have been made.

Boris Johnson pledged to give police powers to stop and search known knife carriers and the Government has committed to recruit an extra 20,000 officers in the next three years to reverse reductions in police numbers.