Greenford: Elderly man on mobility scooter stabbed to death

Police described the attack as an "awful incident"

An elderly man has died after being stabbed while riding a mobility scooter in west London.

Metropolitan Police said emergency services were called to Cayton Road, Greenford, just after 16:00 BST on Tuesday.

The force said the man, believed to be in his 80s, was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.

It is the sixth murder investigation to be launched in London in the last four days.

Detectives are working to inform the latest victim's next of kin and no arrests have yet been made.

Frasley Coutinho, who lives opposite where the man was stabbed to death, said he saw the victim surrounded by a group of youths.

He said: "I saw a couple of people gathering around him and then he drove past and stopped further up, and then there was a group of young boys around him."

Mr Coutinho said he caught some of the incident on a CCTV camera but it had been obscured by a plant.

The victim is believed to be one of the oldest homicide victims in London this year

Nick Lambie told BBC London the community is very worried by the fatal stabbing

Another resident Nick Lambie said the victim was known to collect for charity.

He added: "When you hear something like that happening on your doorstep it is very disconcerting as it is a very quiet area.

"I understand he collected for charity and was quite often as I understand at the local Tesco's. By the looks of it he was making is away from there.

"Someone in their 80s in a mobility scooter can't put up much of a fight."

The mobility scooter was loaded on to a truck as forensics teams worked inside the police cordon

Ch Supt Sean Wilson, lead for policing in Ealing, said: "This is an awful incident that will understandably cause considerable alarm to people locally and across London.

"Our thoughts are with the elderly victim."

Det Ch Insp Jim Eastwood added: "My officers are working to understand what has happened to this man, and we need the public's assistance.

"I'm asking for anyone with dash cam or cycle helmet footage to contact us if they were using the Western Avenue A40 Eastbound in the proximity of Cayton Road and Welland Gardens between 15:15 and 16:15.

Police are appealing for dash cam footage to help them with their investigation

"The elderly victim, who was riding a mobility scooter, was in the area at the time.

"If you saw the victim, or captured anyone acting suspiciously in the area, it is imperative that you make contact."

According to BBC analysis of police crime figures, 66 murder investigations have been launched this year in London by the Met Police, City of London Police and British Transport Police (BTP).

This is slightly lower compared with this time last year where police had launched 78 murder investigations in the capital.

Nearly two-thirds of London homicide victims in 2022 have been stabbed to death.

Four people have been fatally shot - all within the last month.

Sixty-two cases have led to arrests, and 52 cases have seen someone charged with murder.

At the scene

BBC News correspondent Tim Muffett

A blue and white police tent marks the spot where this shocking incident took place.

Several side roads next to the busy A40 are cordoned off this morning and police are keeping pedestrians at a distance as they continue their investigation.

There is a sense of disbelief among some residents.

Eva - who didn't want to give her surname - says she and her partner are now thinking of moving away, having lived in the area for 10 years.

"It's hard to believe it's happened," she told me. "I just don't understand."

"I'm worried about going shopping. I want to find a safe a place to live."

Russell Taverner, who lives very close to where the stabbing took place, told me he considers it a safe area, and was shocked by what had happened.

"It looks like a scene from a TV drama with the forensic tent," he added. "I just hope they catch whoever did it."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was "devastated" at the news of the killing, adding he was in close contact with the Met - which has increased patrols in the area following the "horrific attack".

Resident Simran Advani, 25, described the area as "very quiet" and it was "scary for a man in his 80s to be killed here".

"Most people on this road are elderly, you never hear any noise and never see any young people", she added.

Another neighbour, who did not give his name, said: "It's not nice, it's normally quiet here. It's out of the way.

"I feel sorry for his family - I'm not entirely shocked with the amount of stabbing you hear on the news."

Follow BBC London on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail]