A 60-year-old man stabbed to death in south London last night has become the capital's 145th murder victim this year.

A 50-year-old was arrested at the scene following the stabbing but was taken ill in custody and transferred to hospital where he is stable.

The attack happened at 9.30pm on Monday night in Thornton Heath, south London and the victim, whose relatives have been informed, was found in the street.

Officers are appealing for any witnesses to come forward to help the investigation.

The attack happened at 9.30pm on Monday night in Thornton Heath, south London and the victim, whose relatives have been informed, was found in the street

A map of all 145 murders to have taken place in London so far in 2019, after a man, 60, was killed on Monday night in Thornton Heath

DCI Simon Harding said: 'The victim was found injured in a residential street.

'While it is not a heavy footfall location, there may have been members of the public travelling through Woodcroft Road who saw something.

'I urge those people to come forward and speak to my officers without delay.

'No matter how insignificant you think it may be please do make the call.

'We are building the sequence of events leading up to and immediately following this attack which has led to a man's death, your call could complete the picture.'

A Scotland Yard spokesman added: 'Detectives investigating the murder of a man in Croydon are appealing for witnesses to come forward.

'Police were called at approximately 21:30hrs on Monday, 23 December to reports of a stabbing in Woodcroft Road, Thornton Heath.

'Officers and London Ambulance Service attended. A 60-year-old man was found outside a residential address suffering from stab wounds.

LONDON MURDERS 2019 Where the 145 murders across the capital so far this year have happened Charlotte Huggins, 32, Jan-01, Camberwell

Tudor Simionov, 33, Jan-01, Mayfair

Simbiso Aretha Moula, 39, Jan-04, Rainham

Sarah Ashraf, 35, Jan-06, Isle of Dogs

Jayden Moody, 14, Jan-07, Waltham Forest

Asma Begum, 31, Jan-11, Canning Town

Kamil Malysz, 34, Jan-27, Acton

Nedim Bilgin, 17, Jan-29, Islington

Carl Thorpe, 46, Feb-04, Highgate

Lejean Richards, 19, Feb-05, Battersea

Dennis Anderson, 39, Feb-10, East Dulwich

Bright Akinlele, 22, Feb-18, Camden

Brian Wieland, 69, Feb-19, Chingford

Glendon Spence, 23, Feb-21, Brixton

Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, Feb-22, Wood Green

David Lopez-Fernandez, 38, Feb-25, Tower Hamlets

Che Morrison, 20, Feb-26, Ilford

Jodie Chesney, 17, Mar-01, Harold Hill

Elize Linda Stevens, 50, Mar-02, Hendon

Jolia Bogdan, 3 months, Mar-02, Croydon

Mohamed Elmi, 37, Mar-03, Soho

Laureline Garcia-Bertaux, 34, Mar-06, Kew

David Martinez, 26, Mar-06, Leyton

Antoinette Donnegan, 52, Mar-07, Battersea

Ayub Hassan, 17, Mar-07, West Kensington

Florin Pitic, 20, Mar-10, Brent

Nathaniel Armstrong, 29, Mar-16, Fulham

Abdirashid Mohamoud, 17, Mar-22, Isleworth

Ravi Katharkamar, 54, Mar-24, Pinner

Ramane Richard Wiggan, 25, Mar-27, West Norwood

Zahir Visiter, 25, Mar-28, Regents Park

Gavin Garraway, 40, Mar-29, Clapham

Calvin Bungisa, 22, Apr-01, Kentish Town

Hubert Hall, 60, Apr-02, Walthamstow

Annabelle Lancaster, 22, Apr-07, Enfield

Noore Bashir Salad, 22, Apr-08, Manor Park

Gopinath Kasivisuwanathan, 27, Apr-16, Wembley

Steven Brown, 47, Apr-17, Stoke Newington

Meshach Williams, 21, Apr-23, Harlesden

Mihrican Mustafa, 38, Apr-26, Canning Town

Henriett Szucs, 34, Apr-26, Canning Town

Amy Parsons, 35, Apr-26, Whitechapel

Joshua White, 29, Apr-26, Hackney

Tashaun Aird, 15, May-01, Hackney

Constantin Sin, 51, May-05, Leytonstone

McCaulay Urugbezi-Edwards, 18, May-05, Southwark

Barrington Davis, 54, May-16, Lewisham

Vladimir Koudriavtsev, 69, May-23, Kensington

Tatiana Koudriavtsev, 68, May-23, Kensington

Iderval da Silva, 46, May-25, Battersea

Alimal Islam, 23, May-26, Tower Hamlets

Ismaila Ceesay, 33, May-28, Forest Gate

Steven Kennedy, 61, May-30, Plaistow

Graham Howe, 53, May-30, Harrow

Baris Kucuk, 33, Jun-01, Haringey

Adrian Murphy, 43, Jun-04, Battersea

Cheyon Evans, 18, Jun-14, Wandsworth

Eniola Aluko, 19, Jun-14, Plumstead

Gleb Stanislavovitch Zhebrovsky, 34, Jun-15, Tower Hamlets

Giedrius Juskauskas, 42, Jun-16, Stratford

Stepan Suslyk, 40, Jun-16, Notting Hill

David Bello-Monerville, 38, Jun-18, Barnet

Ionut Manea, 63, Jun-18, Ilford

Edward Simpson, 25, Jun-21, Feltham

Yusuf Mohamed, 18, Jun-26, Shepherds Bush

Kelly Mary Fauvrelle, 26, Jun-29, Croydon

Riley Fauvrelle, 5 days, Jun-29, Croydon

Ian Taylor, 54, Jun-29, Lambeth

Fuad Habib, 28, Jun-29, Newham

Gary Blagrove, 44, Jun-29, Fulham

Amara Toure, 18, Jun-30, Southwark

Tesfa Campbell, 40, Jul-03, Wandsworth

Craig Walters (Craig Small), 32, Jul-05, Wembley

Amanda Gretton, 57, Jul-05, Blackheath

Grineo Daka, 27, Jul-07, Leyton

Kwasi Mensah-Ababio, 26, Jul-08, Wembley

Leo Marcus, 22, Jul-10, Kidbrooke

Boluwatife Oyewunmi, 22, Jul-11, Enfield

Kye Manning, 19, Jul-11, Croydon

Akbar Arezo, 64, Jul-12, Whitton

Layla Arezo, 74, Jul-12, Whitton

Aron Kato, 28, Jul-17, Ilford

Diane Dyer, 61, Jul-18, Beckenham

Abdullahi Hassan, 20, Jul-25, South Hampstead

Robert Komuro, 41, Jul-23, Hillingdon

Liam Dent, 25, Jul-26, Chessington

Alciveadis Mauredis, 60, Jul-31, Islington

Dorothy Woolmer, 89, Aug-03, Tottenham

Mohammed Shah Subhani, 27, Aug-05, Hounslow

Alex Smith, 16, Aug-12, Camden

Solomon Small, 18, Aug-15, Lambeth

Amrou Greenidge, 18, Aug-20, Fulham

Allan Isichei, 69, Aug-24, Southall

Santino Angelo Dymiter, 18, Aug-26, Newham

Lee Casey, 39, Aug-29, Brixton

Unnamed child, 15 months, Aug-27, Putney

Laura Rakstelyte, 31, Aug-29, Ilford

Perry Jordan-Brammer, 15, Aug-30, Tottenham

Sandra Samuels, 45, Aug-31, Hackney

Norman Bertran-Tavarez, 24, Sep-01, Southwark

Michael Irving, 15, Sep-03, Stratford

Unnamed man, 20s, Sep-08, Lewisham

Sahkira Mercedes Gwendolin Loseke, 20s, Sep-08, Chalk Farm

Wilson Alexandre Garcia Varela, 24, Sep-09, Kentish Town

Josiph Beker (Youssef al-Bayjani), 17, Sep-10, Edgware Road

Unnamed girl, 8 weeks, Sep-12, SE16

Assad Abdullah Yarow, 25, Sep-12, Camden

Omar Smith, 34, Sep-13, Lewisham

Unnamed girl, 16 months, Sep-13, Plaistow

Julio Gomes, 29, Sep-14, Edmonton

Mark McCann-Barrett, 33, Sep-17, Walthamstow

Serafima Meshaka, 58, Sep-18, Ealing

Sufi Osman, 22, Sep-23, Southall

Tashan Daniel, 20, Sep-24, Hillingdon

Osvaldo Carvalho, 22, Sep-24, Ealing

Arlene Williams, 46, Sep-28, Enfield

Baptista Adjie, 15, Oct-10, Stratford

Clinton Evbota, 18, Oct-10, Camberwell

Ben Lines, 20, Oct-13, Bexley

Zoe Orton, 46, Oct-21, Deptford

Beatrice Yankson, 59, Oct-26, Islington

James Amadu, 26, Oct-31, Enfield

Vladislavs Radionovs, 57, Nov-02, Ilford

Hakim Ishmael Daba Sillah, 18, Nov-07, Uxbridge

Mohammed Mirza, 19, Nov-19, Ilford

Iron Miah, 40, Nov-19, Whitechapel

Randy Skuse, 27, Nov-23, Whitechapel

Akeem Dylon Barnes, 24, Nov-24, Ilford

Mehran Heydari, 26, Nov-24, Ealing

Justin Bello, 38, Nov-25, Neasden

Jack Merritt, 25, Nov-29, London Bridge

Saskia Jones, 23, Nov-29, London Bridge

Exauce Ngimbi, 22, Dec-05, Hackney

Mohammed Abdullah Al Araimi, 20, Dec-06, Knightsbridge

Crossland Davis, 20, Dec-06, Greenwich

James O'Keefe, 47, Dec-09, Hornsey

Dmytro Balaban, 28, Dec-14, Brent

Viorel Stefan, 49, Dec-14, Dagenham

Albert Amofa, 33, Dec-15, Croydon

Ebrima Cham, 35, Dec-19, Hounslow

Michael Paul Baptista, 24, Dec-19, Walthamstow

Unnamed man, 30s, Dec-19, Barnet

Unnamed boy, 16, Dec-19, Dagenham

Unnamed man, 29, Dec-21, Newham

Unnamed man, 60, Dec-23, Thornton Heath



'The injured man was pronounced dead at the scene at 21:49hrs.

'Next of kin have been informed although formal identification awaits and a post-mortem examination will be scheduled in due course.

'A 50-year-old male was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and taken into custody.

'While in custody he became unwell and was taken to hospital where he remains in a stable condition.'

It comes after police warned that gang murder investigations are being blocked by a 'wall of silence', as London's death toll for 2019 reaches 145.

Youth workers, police and prosecutors say that witnesses are unwilling to give evidence because they are fearful for their own safety.

Often the motives of the murders are not known by the authorities, but in order to tackle the increasing problem the background of these cases must be understood.

David Marriott, 38, - who was working at the Marcus Lipton youth club in Brixton in February when Glendon Spence, 23, (pictured) was murdered - says he understands why people don't come forward

DCI Richard Vandenbergh, who leads a homicide team based at Lewisham Police Station told The BBC that often officers come up against a 'wall of silence' during investigations.

He said: 'It's incredibly common, especially with some of the under-25 knife crime murders that we have where there may be gang links. We've had instances where people will just not talk to us.'

David Marriott, 38, - who was working at the Marcus Lipton youth club in Brixton in February when Glendon Spence, 23, was murdered - says he understands why people don't come forward.

He said: 'No-one wants to be labelled as a grass or a snitch, and if people do go down that road there will be consequences.'

He added that if they speak they could be beaten up or killed and worries what the police could do to protect them if they do come forward.

For him, the key is to prevent the violence happening in the first place by offering more community support groups.

The BBC's First 100 killings project has tracked the homicides since the start of 2019, revealing that often gang disputes and turf wars escalate into deadly violence.

In October, two men and three teenage boys went on trial accused of murdering a rival gang member in a north London hair salon.

Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, bled to death at the scene.

One of the teenage defendants was then stabbed in prison because he had given an account to police of what happened that night, according to the publication.

In October, two men and three teenage boys went on trial accused of murdering a rival gang member in a north London hair salon. Kamali Gabbidon-Lynck, 19, (pictured) bled to death at the scene

Forensic police officers at the Marcus Lipton Youth Club in Minet Road after Glendon Spence, 23, was murdered there

Julius Capon, head of the Homicide Unit of the Crown Prosecution Service in London said that with most of the gang violence that they prosecute, there are witnesses who have seen things relevant to the prosecution but are not prepared to give evidence.

He also believes that the problem is getting worse as more people are being killed in gang-related violence, meaning more and more people are reluctant to come forward.

He said that for people frightened of the repercussions, there are measures that can be put in place.

It has now been more than a year since the unsolved murder of John Ogunjobi, 16, in Tulse Hill, who was fatally stabbed by a group of men.

DCI Vandenbergh believes that some of John's friends may have vital information that they have not given police that could help solve the case.

There has been a total of 145 murders in the capital so far this year.