Fatal Bexleyheath stabbing was 'random'

Two women were stabbed, one of them fatally, in an apparently random attack by another woman using a stolen butcher's knife in a busy London street yesterday.

It is believed that one of the weapons was taken from a local meat shop on Broadway in Bexleyheath, south-east London, at around 8.30am.

The dead woman, who suffered a stab wound to the neck, was said to be aged between 40 and 50. The other victim was slashed on the hand and suffered minor injuries.

A woman was arrested and taken to a nearby hospital for an assessment. It is not known whether she was injured in the incident or what the motive for the attack was.

Eyewitnesses described how early morning shoppers and people on their way to work and school fled in horror when the attacker, who was spotted wrestling with security guards after apparently taking a knife from an Asda supermarket, ran amok. The victims have not been named.