Oxford Street stabbing: Man knifed to death yards from shoppers in central London

A man has been stabbed to death in a side road near London’s Oxford Street, the Metropolitan Police said on Monday.

It is believed it happened after a row broke out near a restaurant.

A police spokesperson said officers were called to Poland Street in Soho at 11.40am to reports of a stabbing.

“Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance,” the spokesman said.

“A man was found with stab wounds. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:20hrs. His identity has yet to be confirmed. A man has been arrested in connection with the incident.”

Witnesses described how a man believed to be a restaurant worker was stabbed to death outside a restaurant in front of horrified tourists and shoppers.

A witness said: “I saw the police arrive it was flooded with cops around here. I was told two chefs or at least two guys from restaurants were involved in a fight and one was stabbed.”

Another said: “Sniffer dogs were looking under vans in the street after the incident. I saw a guy being led away.”

Tourists Greg Summers. 33, from Australia said: “I came down just after it looked like it was all centred around a restaurant.”

A worker at a pub on Poland Street said: “The incident happened inside a door next to a restaurant. There were police everywhere.

“A bloke was arrested, he was calm, quite placid. They cuffed him and took him off.”

Tourist Beth Ellison said: “It’s a shock and a tragedy. I was just passing and I saw a man being taken off. It was all happening near a restaurant.”

A construction worker told how a row escalated close to a Korean restaurant in Poland Steet.

He said: “There was shouting on the street then it escalated into a full blown row. There was a weapon and then someone fell to the ground.”

Forensic teams were trawling for clues at the scene. Meanwhile detectives were collecting CCTV footage from the street and the area around Oxford Street.

Video shared on social media showed several police cars at the scene with a cordon in place at the junction of Poland Street and Oxford Street.

In a statement, London Ambulance Service said: “We were called at 11.36am today (15 August) to reports of a stabbing in Poland Street, central London. We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer to the scene.

“We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance. Our first paramedic arrived in less than seven minutes. Despite the best efforts of our teams, the patient sadly died at the scene.”

Poland Street is a turning off Oxford Street, which is one of the busiest shopping areas in Europe and attracts tens of thousands of visitors per day, and runs into Soho, another busy area known for its nightlife.

A spokesperson for Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “The mayor’s thoughts are with the friends and family of the victim following this appalling attack in our city today.

“A man has been arrested and the mayor remains in close contact with the Met Police about the incident.

“Each death through violence in London is a tragedy, which is why the mayor’s top priority will always be tackling crime as well as the complex causes of crime.”

Monday’s attack comes after three shootings five miles apart left one young man dead and another injured.

A 25-year-old man was gunned down outside a child’s first birthday party at a community centre in Forest Rise, Walthamstow, just before 9.30pm on Saturday.

He was taken to hospital in a private vehicle but later died. Police believe he was killed in a “targeted attack” and are still hunting the gunman.

It happened hours after a male in his twenties was stabbed and shot in Bohemia Place, Hackney, at 2.40am. His condition is not life-threatening.

Fifty minutes later, shots were fired at a residential address a mile away in Corsley Way, Hackney Wick.