One dead, five critical after knife attack

A knife-wielding man killed one person and critically injured five others yesterday in a series of apparently random morning rush-hour stabbings across north London just days before Christmas, police said.

A man with a history of mental illness was arrested in connection with the attacks. Police said a knife had been found.

Knife crime is rising sharply across the country, prompting the government to consider new laws raising the minimum age of knife ownership and extending the range of banned weapons.

Last year 272 people were knifed to death nationwide, an increase of 35 per cent in five years, while at the same time 80 people were shot dead. In some parts of London the problem is so bad that schools have introduced metal scanners to root out hidden knives. Police said the suspect, described as about 30 years old and of Turkish origin, had driven in a car to at least five different locations to stage the attacks.

"We could be dealing with a person who has mental illness, certainly the person in custody has a history of mental illness," Chief Superintendent Simon O'Brien told reporters.

"It seems the suspect was getting out of his vehicle, picking people at random, stabbing them and then getting back in his vehicle. We don't know the motivation for the attacks at this stage," he added.