The number of murders in London so far this year has now matched the total in the whole of 2017, a grim milestone that will fuel the debate of how to tackle rising crime.

After a series of violent deaths in the capital, including the week from October 31 when there were five stab murders, the tally of homicides has reached 118.

This is equal to the number in the whole of 2017, according to Home Office figures, excluding the 13 victims of the terrorist attacks at Westminster Bridge, London Bridge and Finsbury Park.

The latest incident involved the death of a 35-year-old woman who suffered an abdominal wound at an address in Ilford, east London, on Monday. A 50-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.

The official Metropolitan Police tally of violent deaths this year is 120, but the figure takes in two cases that are being treated as self-defence.