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Girl, 3, sees father's bus stop murder
Justin Davenport, Crime Correspondent30.01.09
A NEW father was stabbed to death in front of his three-year-old daughter at a south London bus stop.
The 30-year-old, who has not been named, was travelling to visit his wife in hospital yesterday evening where she had given birth to a boy hours earlier. His daughter was not hurt.
Police said they were called to the scene at 6.15pm and found the man being treated by ambulance officers at the bus stop opposite a Lidl supermarket in London Road, West Croydon.
An air ambulance was called and paramedics carried out open heart surgery in the road. The victim was then taken to Croydon's Mayday Hospital - where his wife had given birth - but died less than an hour later.
He is believed to have become involved in a row with another man who was walking past the bus stop.
A 22-year-old man was arrested and is in custody at a south London police station.
Police are seeking two teenage boys who were standing at the bus stop and are believed to have crucial information. They were described as black, aged between 15 and 20, of slim build and wearing hooded tops.
Today Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons, who is leading the investigation, said: "This was a shocking attack in a public place in the early evening. The victim's three-year-old daughter was with him when he was attacked, though fortunately she wasn't physically injured. Even more tragically, his partner had given birth to a son just that morning. A number of witnesses have already come forward but I believe there are still people with information we need to speak to." Forensic science officers were today searching a large sealed off area, stretching down to West Croydon station. Sniffer dogs were brought in to help locate the murder weapon which officers said could have been discarded by the killer.
The attack took place yards from where Nilanthan Murdi, 17, was fatally stabbed in the neck in August last year. Floral tributes left for the teenager were visible next to the police cordon last night.
Weeks before Nilanthan's death another 17-year-old was slashed across the face during a bus stop row nearby.
In December 2007, a 42-year-old man was left fighting for his life after being stabbed in the same stretch of road.
