Hunt for suspect after grandfather, 87, stabbed to death riding mobility scooter

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Thomas O’Halloran, 87, was riding his mobility scooter in Greenford when he was attacked on Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said.

Scotland Yard today issued an image of a suspect they want to trace, saying the man had been seen on CCTV running from the scene armed with a knife.

Detectives said they want to trace the man ‘as a matter of urgency’ describing him as wearing grey shorts, a dark coloured t-shirt, white baseball cap and white patterned builder style gloves.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood, who is leading the investigation, said: “We are keen to identify the man in the CCTV images as a matter of urgency.

"He is clearly a dangerous individual and people are advised not to approach him, but to call us immediately on 999 if they know him or have any information regarding his whereabouts."

He managed to travel some 75 yards in his scooter to get help after being stabbed in Western Avenue, seeking out members of the public in Runnymede Gardens, before dying.

Mr O'Halloran's family has since spoken out since the incident, with his grandson, Joey, 20, saying he was devastated after his father broke the news to him.

"The family are still trying to take in what has happened, it is a complete shock," he said, according to MailOnline.

"My father called me this morning, he was very upset and didn't talk much.

"I just don’t understand why someone would do this to a defenceless old man."

Metropolitan Police Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson described it as a "shocking act" of "unprovoked violence" and urged anyone with information to come forward. He said extra police have been deployed to the area to reassure the public.

"I understand that our community will quite rightly be shocked and appalled by this incident, as I am too," he said, adding Mr O'Halloran "was a very well-known and much-loved member of our community".

He said the 87-year-old "managed to travel 75 yards or so on his mobility scooter to Runnymede Gardens, where he flagged down a member of public for help".

In the wake of six killings over five days, Ch Sup Wilson said: "I would like to reassure you all that we are doing all we can to solve the horrendous crimes that we have seen across London over the last few days.

"I stress that London remains one of the very safest cities in the world."

Frasley Coutinho, who lives in Greenford, west London, said he saw the victim surrounded by a group of young boys.

"I saw a couple of people gathering around him and then he drove past and stopped further up, and then there was a group of young boys around him," he said.

Mr Coutinho said he caught some of the incident on a CCTV camera but it was obscured by a plant.

"I had a rose plant blocking it so I couldn't see any more," he said.

Local residents told LBC today that they are frightened of leaving the house with one man saying he had resorted to taking his girlfriend to and from work.

A wave of violence has swept across London in recent days.

The Met police have launched 16 murder investigations in the past month, after a series of shootings and stabbings left a number of people wounded or dead.

At the scene in Greenford this morning, a resident who knew the victim told LBC: “We are good friends, we are always meeting every day in the morning. His grandchildren and my grandchildren play together.

“Now I really feel very sad because he’s not [here] anymore.”

Another said: “The street was full of police, my housemates told me that a helicopter landed at the back of our house, on a field.

“So we had no idea, we just estimated it was something awful happened.

“Except the dual carriageway which makes a lot of noise, this area is one of the quietest areas here.”

“Frightened, that is why I am here, I want to take my girlfriend to work now and in the evening I am going to go get her because look at what happened.”

According to the Evening Standard, the victim would often play the accordion while on his scooter to raise money for victims of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

A shop owner told the paper: "He always had a Ukraine flag on the front of his basket.

"He was a very good, kind man.

"He told me he was Irish and had three sons.

"It’s so sad. I can’t believe anyone would hurt him in broad daylight like that."

Another local told the paper: "My son loved him. He would ask him to blow his horn on the scooter whenever he saw him and he would. My son is so upset."

He was attacked while on his way to busk, according to a friend, who did not want to be named.

He told the PA news agency: "He was coming back from Perivale to play his accordion and make some money for his family and he was stabbed to death."

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Police are working to inform the next of kin of the man on the mobility scooter. A wide police cordon was set up at the scene this morning as police continued their investigation.

Crime scene tents were set up near the junction of Cayton Road and several police officers and a police van were pictured there.

Last night forensics officers in blue overalls could be seen loading bags containing items into police van as the scene was guarded by dozens of officers.

Other forensics officers were examining the road surface under bright lights.

The cordon extended around several semi-detached houses covering the junction between Cayton Road and Runnymede gardens, parallel to the A40.

Recent violent attacks in London:

• A triple shooting in Brent on Monday left a 17-year-old boy, a 21-year-old man and a man in his 20s injured, two seriously. There have not been any arrests yet.
• A stabbing in a restaurant near Oxford Street on Monday left a man dead. Police arrested a man at the scene.
• A stabbing in Ealing on Monday saw 58-year-old Aziza Bennis killed. Hanna Bennis, 21, was arrested and charged with murder.
• A man died in Lewisham on Sunday. Sonny Booty, 36, was found dead in a residential property. A 53-year-old man was charged with murder.
• A 60-year-old man died in Dagenham on Sunday. A 23-year-old man has been charged with murder.
• A shooting in Walthamstow left a 25-year-old man dead on Saturday. No arrests have been made.
• A stabbing in east London left a man injured. He was found with stab injuries and shots were also fired in Bohemia Place. More shots were fired nearby around an hour later, but no one else was injured. No arrests have been made.

Officers were called at 4.06pm to Cayton Road, Greenford, to reports of a man with stab injuries, and despite the efforts of paramedics he was declared dead at the scene.

The Met said: "A crime scene is in place and urgent inquiries to establish what happened are ongoing."

Detective Chief Inspector Jim Eastwood from the Met's Specialist Crime Command said: "My officers are working to understand what has happened to this man, and we need the public's assistance.

"I'm asking for anyone with dash-cam or cycle-helmet footage to contact us if they were using the Western Avenue A40 Eastbound in the proximity of Cayton Road and Welland Gardens between 3:15pm and 4pm.

"The elderly victim, who was riding a mobility scooter, was in the area at the time. If you saw the victim, or captured anyone acting suspiciously in the area, it is imperative that you make contact."

Chief Superintendent Sean Wilson, lead for policing in Ealing, added: "This is an awful incident that will understandably cause considerable alarm to people locally and across London. Our thoughts are with the elderly victim.

"We are supporting our colleagues in Specialist Crime as they work to understand what has happened and identify who is responsible for this horrific crime. The support of the public is crucial. Police and the community must work together to identify violent offenders and remove them from our streets.

"My officers will remain on scene. They are there to help and protect you - if you have information that you want to share please approach them and tell them what you know."

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Simran Advani, 25, a senior property manager who lives several doors down from where the stabbing took place, told the PA news agency she often saw an elderly man on his mobility scooter.

She said: "We always used to see him on his mobility scooter - he always used to smile, he was a nice old man.

"He often goes round the block, he always went on the road not the pavement. It was dark red.

"We saw him every couple of days.

"This is a very quiet area, you never hear any noise on this street. It's scary for a man in his 80s to be killed here.

"Most people on this road are elderly, you never hear any noise and never see any young people.

"It was just like a normal day today. There's a parade of shops just round the corner under the train tracks and through an alley way which he might have been heading from or to."