Simon Emmons charged after Ebrima Cham was stabbed while asleep, according to police

This article is more than 8 months old

This article is more than 8 months old

A man has been charged with the murder of a 35-year-old in west London who police said was stabbed to death as he slept.

Ebrima Cham, known as Brim, was attacked while staying at a friend’s flat in Hounslow on 19 December.

Scotland Yard said Simon Emmons, 39, of no fixed abode, was arrested on Thursday and charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon. He is due to appear at Uxbridge magistrates court on Saturday.

In an earlier statement, Cham’s family said they felt “numb with pain” and had “so many questions, not least ‘Why?’”. They said the family’s Christmas celebrations had “morphed into our time of mourning the loss of our Brim for evermore”.

Metropolitan police officers were called to the scene on Grove Road at 11.30am but, despite the efforts of emergency services, Cham was pronounced dead a short time later.

Detectives previously said they believed Cham had been asleep when he was attacked. A postmortem examination on 21 December gave a provisional cause of death as multiple stab injuries.

Police said a 44-year-old man previously arrested on suspicion of murder had since been released with no further action. A 68-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder on 22 December has been bailed until mid-January.