Police hunt knifeman following women at night and linked with Uber driver stabbing

Detectives fear suspect may strike again as they urgently appeal for help finding him

Black-and-white CCTV image of suspect (Metropolitan Police)

A night-time stalker armed with a knife who followed women in south London is believed to have also stabbed an Uber driver.

Detectives hunting the man, who approached women in Clapham, fear he could strike again.

The alarm was first raised last Friday, after a woman walking at around 4am in Sisters Avenue, near Clapham Common, noticed a man with a knife following her. As he got close, she began to shout and he ran away.

Two days later, at 1.40am in Sumburgh Road, also near Clapham Common, a man approached a woman and grabbed her but she managed to escape.

Then at 2am on Thursday, an Uber driver was stabbed in the chest twice in Nightingale Lane in Clapham. Police said his condition was not life-threatening and he was released from hospital.

Just 50 minutes later, police saw a man on Clapham Common, near Holy Trinity Church, approaching women. Officers chased him, but he ran off.

Within two hours – at 4.45am – the officers again spotted the suspect, this time on a red bicycle. He was chased, but was lost near Aliwal Road.

From the description the Uber driver gave, officers linked the suspect to the earlier offences.

The suspect is described as white, between 25 and 30, of slim build with short, blond hair. A grainy photograph of him caught on camera shows him wearing a hoodie and with a backpack on.

map showing Clapham Common (Google Maps)

The Metropolitan Police warn that anyone seeing him should not approach him, but call 999.

Detective Superintendent Dan O’Sullivan, of the Southwest Command Unit, said: “We are extremely concerned about this man and we need to find him as soon as possible.

“I am really concerned that he will commit further offences and I am asking anyone who knows him or has any information to call police.

“You can also call Crimestoppers and you do not have to give your name.

“We know this will cause community concern and we will be carrying out extra patrols at key times. If you have any information, please do not hesitate but call us straight away.”

Any witnesses or anyone with information is asked to contact police, quoting CAD 754/17Nov.

The Clapham Common area is still remembered as the place where Sarah Everard disappeared when she was kidnapped and murdered by police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home on 3 March 2021.