Dad stabbed to death 'defending teenage daughter'

A doting dad was stabbed to death defending his teenage daughter from a gang of young "hooligans" who were harassing her, according to horrified neighbours.

The victim was named by local residents as 45-year-old tiler Jamie Markham.

Police and paramedics, including an air ambulance, were scrambled to suburban Chingford, east London, at 6.20pm on Monday evening to find the caring "family man" suffering from multiple stab wounds.

Witnesses told how paramedics battled to save the dad of three amid heavy rain, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr Markham was the 49th person to be stabbed to death in London this year. A 16-year-old lad became the 50th when he died in hospital yesterday (TUES) nine days after being knifed in a park in Tottenham, north London.

Police were seen trawling through trees and foliage in an alleyway near the murder scene in Chingford earlier today.

Neighbours say they spotted a teenage girl, around 14 years old, who was wearing a grey vest top and leggings, being "annoyed" by a group of boys she was with as it started raining heavily on Monday evening.

One said she appeared to "pull a face" and went to fetch her dad who had just finished walking the famiy's pet dog.

'Entire street could hear the screams'

A neighbour said "the entire street could hear the screams" of Mr Markham's partner when he died.

A man, who was sat in his car at the time, said he saw a group of eight or nine teenage boys "run up and down" the street, but did not see the stabbing.

Another neighbour who declined to be named, said Mr Markham's partner is called Candice, his oldest boy around 20 years old who is also called Jamie, he had a daughter Chloe at around the age of 14 and a young girl under five.

He said: "I saw hooligans running up and down this way and that way.

"The police have got my dash cam because I was sitting in the car at the time.

"It was hammering down so you couldn't hear much of anything.

"I was shocked, especially seeing police doing CPR on him. I didn't realise who it even was until later."

His partner, who also declined to be named, said: "He was a family guy.

"He never bothered us, he just got on, and kept himself to himself and walked the dogs.

"He would come out of his place and be peacefully on his own. A day or two ago I saw him with his son chatting away.

"Yesterday everyone was just shell-shocked."

She added: "It's just heartbreaking when you think of it. His life is gone. Whoever done it, they've ruined the partner's life, the kids' life.

"He was the breadwinner of the family. It gets me that people think this is acceptable. People think that it's normal. I just think what do their family think they do when they get out and about?"

Alice McGill, 78, said she had spoken to neighbours about what happened.

She said: "All I know is that this girl was hanging out with these boys, one of them said something silly.

"She then went to go and get her father and her father came out and he died.

"It's a tragedy because this young girl is going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.

"It's not her fault. This girl was a proper daddy's girl - the poor, poor girl."

'We all felt distraught'

Kerrie-Ann Lambert, 32, a mum of three, said: "I was on my way back from the shops when I saw a large group of teenage boys and one girl wearing leggings and a grey vest top.

"It started really chucking it down and I was looking at the girl and I thought, 'wow you're going to get pneumonia'.

"There were loads of boys. There was one girl. It looked like a herd.

"I thought, should I offer her a jacket? I wish I had intervened.

"I thought it was a bit weird because it was one girl with a bunch of boys. I kept an eye on her for 10 minutes because I thought is she happy, is she safe with them? Is she being picked on by them?

"She seemed fine to me at first, but then I think one of the boys said something to her and she pulled a face. She looked like she'd been annoyed and she wanted to go home or something, but I'm not too sure."

"I went home because it started chucking it down and I had to get dinner on.

"Later I just heard those screams. We all felt distraught and knew someone must have passed away.

"One of the police officers said that people can't come out this way because they're operating on him now."

'It's disgusting'

Ms Lambert added: "I'm very upset about it. All he was doing was protecting his daughter.

"These boys thought they were big people and decided to play God.

"I've moved here to get away from all of this, it's ridiculous. I let my kids play where there's a swing.

"I'm worried they might see something. It's traumatic. I know no one is going to stab a nine year old or a 10-year-old.

"But it's disgusting. I feel really sorry for that lady and that family. Someone woke up with no dad yesterday."

"I hope that person feels sorry for what they've done.

"One day you're going to have a daughter and someone is going to say something crap to her, and you're going to know what it's like to want to defend her. It's horrible. I really do hope the police find this person because they deserve to be put away."

No arrests made

Detectives from the Met's Specialist Crime Command are leading the investigation. No arrests have been made.

Detective Inspector John Marriott said: "A dedicated team of officers are working to piece together the tragic circumstances that led to this man losing his life.

"The thoughts of all of us are with his family and friends as they come to terms with their loss.

"We have already spoken to a number of key witnesses and recovered CCTV from the area, although I would like to hear from anyone else who witnessed the attack, or a disturbance beforehand."

Chief Superintendent Richard Tucker, responsible for local policing in Waltham Forest, said: "The Met remains committed to tackling violence across London and I would like to reassure the community that we will do everything we can to track down those responsible for this attack.

"I understand the concern this incident will cause and I would like to reassure residents that you will continue to see additional officers in the area over the coming days. I would urge you to speak with them about any concerns you have."