A 29-year-old man was stabbed to death in London's Royal Docks last night as the capital's 2019 death toll ticked 144.

The suspected murder victim was found with knife wounds on Hanameel Street in Newham, east London, at around 2am following reports of people fighting in the area.

He was pronounced dead 45 minutes later, bringing the number of killings in London to the highest since 2008.

One man was arrested in connection and remains in custody as Scotland Yard detectives launched a murder investigation.

The violence is the latest in a shocking spree of six brutal murders that has rocked the UK - just five days before Christmas.

A 29-year-old man was stabbed to death in London's Royal Docks last night as the capital's 2019 death toll ticked 144 (crime scene)

And four were stabbed to death in London in less than 12 hours on Thursday including a 16-year-old boy.

Yesterday, police were desperately hunting for three killers after they forced their way into a house in Hounslow, west London, just before 11.30 am on Thursday and stabbed a young man to death in a targeted daylight murder.

The 35-year-old victim, Ebrima Cham, lovingly known as 'Brim' to friends and family, was left for dead at a home in a row of terraced houses in Hounslow.

The Metropolitan Police and London Ambulance Service were called to the address on Grove Road shortly after 11.30am, but Mr Cham died half an hour later.

A 44-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder, but is not thought to be one of the three suspects who forced their way into the house.

Later that evening, a man in his 20s was stabbed to death on Bromley Road, Walthamstow, and another suffered non-life threatening injuries.

Officers were called at around 7.16pm, and a 29-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Just over an hour later, a man in his 30s died after being attacked near Scratchwood Park in Barnet.

The suspected murder victim was found with knife wounds on Hanameel Street in Newham, east London, at around 2am following reports of people fighting in the area (police cordon pictured)

He was found in a car and was pronounced dead at the scene. A second man, in his 20s, suffered stab wounds and was taken to hospital.

On Tuesday, a man died two days after being knifed in a 'botched' car robbery in Croydon.

Albert Amofa, 33, was knifed in the leg outside his house on Drake Road on Sunday evening.

Last Saturday night, a man in his 40s died after being stabbed at a property on Marlborough Road, Dagenham.

A woman in her 50s was found with non-life threatening injuries and a 59-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Also on December 14, 28-year-old Dmytro Balaban was knifed and died in Brent.

Volodymyr Holovatskyi, 23, was arrested and charged with murder the following day.

This year's homicide figures include Boluwatife Oyewunmi, who was shot in 2017 but died this year.

The Met recorded 135 homicides in 2018, while the Home Office recorded 141 homicides in the capital including those in the City of London Police area.