Man stabbed to death in London becomes 43rd knife crime victim killed this year

Victim found with multiple wounds died at scene

A manhunt has been launched for the killer of a man who was stabbed to death on a west London street - believed to be the 43rd person to die on the capital's streets this year as a result of knife crime.

The victim, believed to be in his forties was found with multiple stab wounds at around 10:20pm in Kensington, Scotland Yard said.

He died at the scene 40 minutes later and a murder investigation was launched.

Police said the victim's next of kin had been informed, but formal identification was yet to take place.

Mika Simmons, an actress who has appeared in Casualty among other things, tweeted that the incident took place outside her flat.

"I’ve been told he was working as a delivery driver & refused to give some other youths some money,” she wrote.

Police did not speculate on a motive for the crime.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said in a statement that he was "deeply saddened to learn of the fatal stabbing of a man in Kensington last night and my thoughts are with his friends and family."

He added: “The police are doing everything in their power to bring those responsible to justice."

Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad also took to Twitter to say she was "devastated to hear of another life lost on the street in Kensington".

The killing is believed to be the 43rd fatal stabbing in London this year and one of more than 60 murder investigations launched by London's Metropolitan Police this year.

Figures released by the force this month showed that in the year to March there has been a 23 percent increase in gun crime and a 21 percent rise in knife crime.

Crimes involving knives and sharp instruments across England and Wales are at their highest level since 2011, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Earlier this week, The Independent reported that YouTube was deleting videos targeted by the Met in an operation against “drill” music, which many believe to be contributing to the current spate of knife and gun attacks in London.

This came after it emerged last month that gangs whose turf wars led to the murder of 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne in the north London borough of Tottenham had appeared on drill videos, including those posted on the YouTube channel of former BBC Radio 1 DJ Tim Westwood.

Met Commissioner Cressida Dick gave many reasons for the recent spate of attacks in an LBC radio phone-in, including austerity, drug markets and police cuts.

But she added that drill music should share a portion of the blame.

“Very quickly, you will see these are associated with lyrics which are about glamorising violence, serious violence – murder, stabbings – they describe the stabbings in great detail, with great joy and excitement,” she said.

Defenders point out that drill music has existed for decades and believe police cuts are more likely to be at fault.

This is supported by Home Office documents leaked last month which revealed that government cuts to police services “likely contributed” to a rise in serious violent crime.

Since 2010, the number of police officers across the UK has fallen by more than 20,000.

The Met has made £600m in savings since 2011 and needs to make another £300m in savings. At least £22m has been slashed from youth services across the capital since 2011.

Appealing for information about the Kensington stabbing, Sadiq Khan said: “There is no honour in staying silent.”

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information should call 101 or the incident room on 0208 358 0200, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.