Marsha's killer 'attacks teenager'

The killer of a teenager who died close to her home in London is believed to have struck a third time, police said yesterday.

The person who killed Marsha McDonnell, 19, on 4 February in Hampton, south-west London, is thought to have attacked a boy, 18, less than half a mile away at about 2am yesterday.

Scotland Yard warned residents in Hampton that the killer was likely to be a local. They told people to watch out for anyone suspicious and to take precautions late at night.

Like McDonnell, the boy had been out with friends in Kingston, south-west London, and had caught the bus home. He got off in Hampton Hill and heard a noise. He turned to see a man behind him and tried to cross the road, but the man attempted to hit him with a blunt object. He missed but swung again, hitting the teenager lightly on the waist. He ran off and the teenager called police. He said the attacker was young and was wearing a dark jacket with the hood up.

Police believe that a third assault, on a girl aged 17 on 8 January, less than a mile from where McDonnell died, is linked to the attacks. All of the victims were assaulted at night with a blunt object by someone who was lying in wait. A police spokesman said: "We are linking these investigations because of the similar facts ...They were all apparently motiveless unprovoked attacks."