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Crime

25th Jan 2022

Driver arrested on suspicion of murder after knifeman ‘hit with car while stabbing woman’

Steve Hopkins

The woman and the man killed in Maida Vale on Monday knew each other, police said

The driver of a car who is said to have tried to save a woman’s life by allegedly crashing into a man stabbing her to death has been charged on suspicion of murder.

Both the 43-year-old woman who was stabbed and the alleged attacker, 41, were killed during the incident in west London’s Maida Vale on Monday morning. The pair knew each other.

Police have since charged the 26-year-old driver who they don’t believe knew either of the deceased. The exact “circumstances of the incident” are still being determined, detective chief inspector Jim Eastwood said.

The woman was stabbed multiple times in Chippenham Road around 9am and was unable to be saved despite passers-by trying to intervene to stop the attack.

The knifeman was then said to have been struck by a car.

Police on Monday were examining a blue Renault Clio that collided with the wall of St Peter’s Church on Chippenham Road and inspecting CCTV footage.

Jiyad Raad told The Independent that he heard the woman screaming for help and saw the man stabbing her: “I see him three to four times stab her with the knife in the neck.”

Radd said he tried to intervene before the knifeman stabbed the woman “two to three times” more. The knifeman was then hit by the car, he said, adding: “The driver tried to save the girl.”

Police, ambulance crews, and the fire service, who freed the injured man as he was trapped underneath the car, were all called to the incident. Both the woman and the man died at the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood praised members of the public for “bravely” trying to intervene and stop the “terrible incident”.

“A man has been arrested in relation to the case; we are not aware of any links between this man and the two deceased. I can also confirm that we are not currently looking for anyone else in connection to this incident,” he said in a statement.

“A team of detectives are working to establish the circumstances of the incident and I would ask the public to avoid speculating on what may have happened while these initial enquiries take place.”

Eastwood said a number of people had already come forward and spoken to police, but urged anyone else with information to do so as “any information could be vital in helping us understand why this dreadful incident happened”.

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