First victim named as man arrested over four killed in south London

A grandmother was among four people stabbed to death in a house in south London, a family member has said, after a man was arrested on suspicion of their murder.

The Metropolitan police are investigating the deaths after police were called to a residential address on Delaford Road in Bermondsey at about 1.40am on Monday after reports of a disturbance.

After forcing entry, they found four people inside – three women and a man – with stab injuries.

A man aged in his late 20s, who was known to them, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody.

Venecia Reid, the niece of one of the women, told the Evening Standard that grandmother Dolet Hill, a former employee at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospitals, was among the victims.

Speaking of her aunt, Reid said: “She was very loving, very kind, very generous. She worked very hard in this country to support her two girls and her two grandkids. She does not deserve this.”

It has been reported that one of the victims was Hill’s partner.

Speaking to reporters, local police commander Colin Wingrove confirmed that the four deceased individuals were three women, thought to be in their mid-60s, 40s and 30s, and one man in his mid-60s.

The arrested suspect is a man in his late 20s, he said. “At this early stage, officers are not looking for any other person.”

The four people were attended to by emergency services but all died from their wounds at the scene. Officers are contacting next of kin and postmortem examinations will be arranged shortly.

It is thought all five people were known to each other. However, Wingrove was unable to say whether they were family members. He appealed to anyone with information on the “deeply shocking incident” to contact the police, and added that support would be available for the local community.

Pictures from the scene showed that part of the road was closed off with metal hoarding and a number of forensic tents had been put up.

The arrested man was taken to a south London police station where he remains in custody while detectives investigate.

Anne Birkett, 60, who lives near the property where the victims were found, said she was woken up by police sirens and a circling helicopter just before 2am.

Birkett said: “It’s devastating – you hear all of this but you never assume it’s going to be right on your own doorstep. I’m a foster carer and I’ve got children in my care, and now I’ve got to protect them now because of what’s happened.”

A resident of the adjacent road, Bramcote Grove, who did not want to be named, said: “When I saw four ambulances – not one, not two, but four – I knew it was serious.”

Neighbours who spoke to the Guardian shared their shock and said they believed it was an isolated incident.

One resident of Bramcote Grove, Danny Smith, 39, said he heard screaming on and off for five minutes at about 1am. He has lived in the area for 20 years and is an acquaintance of the household in which the stabbings took place. He said he believed four people were living in the house, whom he described as “such a nice family”.

Smith said that although he had heard occasional police raids, he had never heard of an incident on this scale in the area. “It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened here. It’s not the nicest neighbourhood, but everybody knows each other,” he said.

He added that he saw armed police officers arrive in the early hours of the morning.

Another neighbour, who asked not to be named, said the screams on Monday morning sounded like “someone getting battered”. He added: “It’s a very barbaric act, it’s tragic what happened there.”

The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said: “I am heartbroken that three women and a man were killed last night in a devastating incident at an address in Southwark. My thoughts are with the family and friends of those who have lost loved ones in this awful crime. I am in contact with the leadership of the Metropolitan police.

“An investigation is under way and one man has been arrested. I urge anyone who has information that could be relevant to contact the police immediately.”

A spokesperson for London ambulance service said: “We were called at 2.07am today to reports of an incident on Delaford Road, Bermondsey.

“We sent three ambulance crews, two fast response units, two incident response officers, two advanced paramedics and a team leader to the scene. Our team worked closely with colleagues from other emergency services. Sadly, despite the best efforts of our medics, four patients died at the scene.”

• UK news

• news