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39 people arrested in west London over stabbing incident

This image published by the BBC on December 31, 2018, shows a police tapes cordoning an area in west London following a stabbing attack that resulted in mass arrest of 39 people.

Police in London have made 39 arrests over a single stabbing attack that left a man critically injured west of the British capital.

The Metropolitan Police, known as The Met, said Monday that the mass arrest was made overnight inside a flat apartment near Fulham Palace Road, Hammersmith, after people who were holding a party in the property refused to cooperate with officers over an investigation into the stabbing of a man.

The man, believed to be in his mid-30s, was found with life-threatening wounds in the area after he was chased by  men and women following “a minor argument” in a shop, said the police, adding that the suspects had been seen going into a flat where the arrests were made.

All 39 people will remain in custody while police goes on with their inquiry, said the Met, adding that two knives were recovered from nearby the place where the party had been held.  

“Whilst it is unusual for so many people to be arrested in the early stages of an investigation such as this, due to a lack of co-operation and the necessity of securing essential evidence following a serious assault this action was appropriate,” said a Met commander.

The BBC said three major locations in the area, including the supermarket where the brawl took place, remain within police cordon, adding that blood could still be seen around one of the taped-off areas.

Knife crime has become rampant in large cities in the UK, especially in London, where the number of homicides, including those resulting from stabbings, exceeded a 10-year record of more than 154 in 2018.

Understaffed police have been blamed for the surge in violence and resulting deaths although the government denies claims that its budget cuts have rendered police unable to see to all emergencies.


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