Boy, 4, stabbed to death at flat

Last updated at 14:54 GMT, Tuesday, 24 November 2009

Murder detectives are waiting to question a father suspected of stabbing his four-year-old son to death before injuring himself.

Officers were called to a flat in Southwark, south London, on Monday after people heard a violent argument.

Police found the body of a boy with knife wounds.

The 31-year-old father is under guard at a south London hospital. His 28-year-old wife suffered a stab wound to the neck but has been discharged.

A 17-month-old girl was found unharmed at the address in Lynton Road at about 1800 GMT.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the man, whose condition is described as "serious", remains under guard in hospital.

Officers from the force's child abuse investigation command were waiting to arrest and question him.

The spokesman added that no-one has been arrested and officers are not looking for anyone else in connection with the alleged stabbing.

The police spokesman said: "At this stage, officers are looking into all the circumstances surrounding the child's death.

"There have been no arrests and they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident."

People living on the Lynton Road estate spoke of their shock at the boy's death.

Joan Dixon, 39, who has lived on the estate for 23 years, said: "What I heard was screaming, then my mum saw the police turn up.

"We saw the ambulance turn up and they were doing everything they could to resuscitate the man."

Her mother Rita Dixon, 71, said: "I saw a man on a stretcher - they were resuscitating him halfway down the stairs and then outside. They were doing everything to sort him out."

She said the family "never mixed with anyone, they kept themselves to themselves".

Joan Dixon described the area as "no trouble" and "normal and quiet".

The death is being investigated by officers led by Det Insp Keith Braithwaite, based at Stratford, east London.