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Wandsworth murder: Young man killed after being 'stabbed in the neck' outside school in week of knife carnage

A young man collapsed and died outside a prep school in the heart of London’s ‘nappy valley’ after being stabbed in the neck, witnesses said.

The man in his 20s is the fourth person to have been killed by knives in London in as many days during a week of bloodshed on the capital’s streets.

Neighbours said an argument broke out between two groups hanging around in cars near Wandsworth Common, before two men chased their target and lunged at him with a blade at 7pm last night.

One was heard to scream ‘I’ll show you what will happen’ before plunging the knife into the victim’s throat and then fleeing on foot, barging horrified bystanders out of the way.

Emergency services: An ambulance at the scene of the stabbing (NIGEL HOWARD)
Emergency services: An ambulance at the scene of the stabbing (NIGEL HOWARD)

An au pair who lives with a local family led efforts by passers-by to give the man first aid after he collapsed in the street outside £13,000-a-year Wandsworth Preparatory School.

Paramedics from the London air ambulance, which landed on Wandsworth Common, pronounced him dead at the scene 30 minutes later.

A neighbour told how his 24-year-old Australian live-in nanny desperately fought to save the young man who “died in her arms”.

The 45-year-old said: “She saw the argument break out, there was lots of shouting and fronting up between the groups.

“She didn’t see the knife, it was so quick, but the man collapsed in a pool of blood. She stepped in to stop the bleeding and try CPR, she couldn’t just stand there.

Police cordon: the scene in Wandsworth after the stabbing (NIGEL HOWARD)
Police cordon: the scene in Wandsworth after the stabbing (NIGEL HOWARD)

“She came back home shaking and covered in blood which gave the kids a fright.

“She’s distraught that she couldn’t save him, she had to coordinate a lot of people in a chaotic situation whilst calling the ambulance.

“It looked like he had been stabbed in the neck, his skin had gone so pale, he died in her arms.”

The father-of-two said the murder is shocking in a traditionally quiet residential area where family homes fetch up to £4million. Members of a local knitting circle had been attending their weekly meeting in the church next door.

He said: “It’s unnerving and completely unexpected to happen right on your front door step. It’s normally absolutely silent around here. It goes to show murders can happen anywhere these days.”

Rebecca Slack, a former professional cyclist who has competed against four-time Olympic gold winner Laura Trott, lives nearby with her husband and three children.

Air ambulance: The helicopter landed near the scene after the stabbing in Wandsworth
Air ambulance: The helicopter landed near the scene after the stabbing in Wandsworth

She said: “It’s awful and it happened right outside the primary school. My kids always sit on that corner and play with their phones because there is a Pokémon gym there but thank God they were inside.

“They were excited by the helicopter but can’t really register what’s happened yet. My friend was knocked over by one of the men running away.”

A Met spokesman said: “Detectives are investigating the death of a man in Wandsworth.

“Police were called at 7pm to a man stabbed in Melody Road near the junction with Allfarthing Lane.

“The victim - a man aged in his 20s - was pronounced dead at the scene at 7.30pm.

“Officers believe they know his identity, but await formal identification and confirmation that next of kin have been informed.

“There has been no arrest at this early stage.”

The murder comes days after Mohammed Hasan, 17, was hacked to death by a machete-wielding gang less than a mile away in a Battersea estate. The Met said it was too soon to make any link between the two deaths.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.