A 19-year-old man who was stabbed to death in a residential street was left lying terrified and bleeding heavily, a witness has said.



The neighbour heard the man screaming and found him in Heather Way in Selsdon, south Croydon, south London, at about 7.40pm on Tuesday. Upon seeing the extent of his injuries and the amount of blood he was losing, the neighbour said she knew the man was going to die.

Despite the efforts of paramedics and an air ambulance crew, he died in hospital.

Officers from Scotland Yard’s murder squad have arrested two men, both also 19, on suspicion of murder. They were taken to separate police stations in south London.

The same onlooker reported hearing the victim’s mother running up the street, screaming.

Carol Sayer, 29, described the victim as dark-skinned and said he looked much younger than his actual age. She said: “I heard him scream. I was watering my garden and I thought they were hitting him. I’m disabled, so my neighbour jumped the wall and I screamed and she shouted at them and they ran off. She said to me he was in a bad way and obviously we thought he had been beaten, so I said we should put pressure on the wound, only to find he had been stabbed.”

The victim’s family had been informed but formal identification had not yet taken place, the Metropolitan police said. Road closures were in place around the scene while the investigation continued.

A spokesman said: “Police were called at approximately 7.40pm on Tuesday 16 August to reports of a man injured in Heather Way, south Croydon. Officers, London ambulance service and London’s air ambulance attended and discovered a man, believed aged 19, suffering stab injuries. He was taken to hospital, where he subsequently died.”

The latest incident follows the death of Lance Scott Walker, 18, who was stabbed in Hayes, west London, on Monday afternoon while an onlooker screamed at his alleged attacker to stop. An eyewitness said the teenager had been running for his life while covered in blood.

So far this year, eight teenagers aged between 16 and 19 have lost their lives in knife attacks on the capital’s streets.