Bank holiday violence: Man stabbed in London after questioning man's driving, amid spate of attacks across UK

Attack comes hours after 20-year-old man stabbed to death in Luton

Four people have been murdered over the bank holiday in Liverpool, London and Luton (Reuters)

A man has been stabbed after questioning a man about his erratic driving in London, following a spate of violence across the UK over the bank holiday weekend.

The 43-year-old man was among residents who approached a suspect driving a blue car in Perivale about the “nature of his driving in a small residential street”.

“The suspect produced a knife before stabbing the victim and driving away,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.

The man remains in a stable condition in hospital following the attack at 9pm on Sunday.

A wave of violence sweeping Britain over the bank holiday weekend has so far seen four people murdered, children as young as 13 shot and other victims stabbed or attacked with a noxious substance.

The Perivale stabbing came little over four hours after a 20-year-old man was stabbed to death in Luton.

The victim was pronounced dead in Bishopscote Road, which police said was busy at the time.

Detective Chief Inspector Phil Moss, of Bedfordshire Police, said: “This is clearly a shocking incident where a man has been fatally wounded in a public place in broad daylight.”

Earlier on Sunday afternoon, two teenage boys were shot in Harrow, northwest London, in incidents police believe could be linked.

A 13-year-old boy - who police said was an "innocent bystander" walking with his parents - was shot in the head within minutes of another teenager, aged 15, being injured nearby.

Both boys suffered head injuries and were taken to hospital, but neither was thought to be in a life-threatening condition, police said.

The manager of a betting shop, who did not give his name, said he saw people gathered outside the local Specsavers around a black man on the ground.

"He was holding his head down,” he added. “I could not see his face but could see his white t-shirt was proper covered in blood. He was sitting calmly as the paramedics were looking after him."

In a separate incident shortly before 6.30pm on Sunday, police were flagged down by a member of the public in New Cross, southeast London, after a 22-year-old man was shot.

The injured man was taken by ambulance to hospital where his condition was not life-threatening, Scotland Yard said.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, three other victims were injured in what police described as a noxious substance attack in Hackney.

A fight involving two groups was reported shortly before the incident at 5.20am, which saw a 17-year-old boy and two men aged 22 and 27 taken to hospital.

Police said their injuries, which were not believed to be from acid, could be life-changing.

Detective Sergeant Quinn Cutler said: “This is a particularly vicious and unpleasant incident which has left a number of people with potentially lasting injuries.

On the same day, a 20-year-old man was murdered in Liverpool.

He was found with stab wounds in the city centre at 4am and died of his injuries in hospital.

Detective Superintendent Lee Turner, of Merseyside Police, said: ”Knife crime will not be tolerated in Merseyside and those caught carrying a weapon will be brought to justice.”

On Saturday morning, a 53-year-old man was shot dead in the Rainhill Stoops area of Liverpool.

John Kinsella was attacked on a slip road linking to the M62 at around 7am by a gunman riding a mountain bike, dying at the scene.

No one has yet been arrested over the three killings, or a fourth murder in London.

Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, a 17-year-old rapper and aspiring architect, was shot dead in a Kennington street on Saturday afternoon.

His mother, Pretana Morgan, called for a stop to the violence. “Let my son be the last and be an example to everyone,” she added. “Just let it stop.”

(Handout)

Police announced increased patrols for the rest of the three-day weekend, following months of increased violence that has seen homicides surge by 44 per cent in London in a year.

Detective Chief Superintendent Simon Messinger, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “The violence used has rightly caused concern and we are doing all we can to address this.

“Over the bank holiday weekend, additional officers are on the streets across the capital, working hard to keep London safe.

“They are using highly visible local patrols supported by armed response, traffic motorcycles, dog units, and air support - alongside plain clothes intelligence-led operations.”

Scotland Yard is also increasing the use of blanket stop and search powers to seize knives and weapons in designated areas at risk of disorder.

But police have repeatedly said they need help from local communities, councils and the government to stop the root causes of violence and convince teenagers to stop carrying weapons.

The government’s first-ever Serious Violence Strategy spoke of drivers including drug dealing and disputes on social media when it was released last month, but it was heavily criticised for failing to mention plummeting police numbers and cuts to youth services.

Violent crime has risen across the UK in the past year, with statistics showing a 22 per cent increase in knife crime recorded by police.

Almost 40,000 offences involving knives or sharp weapons were recorded in 2017 – the highest level in seven years – while gun crime was up 11 per cent to 6,600 offences.

Alexa Bradley, an Office for National Statistics (ONS) analyst, said most crimes have remained fairly stable in the past year and at a much lower level than a peak seen in the mid-1990s.

“Eight in 10 adults had not experienced any of the crimes asked about in our survey in the latest year,” she added.

“However, we have seen an increase in the relatively rare, but ‘high-harm’ violent offences such as homicide, knife crime and gun crime, a trend that has been emerging over the previous two years.”

Additional reporting by PA