A 51-year-old father has been stabbed to death while traveling with his only son on a train to London in the second such knife crime incident during New Year holidays in the United Kingdom.
Police on Saturday identified the victim of the violent assault on a train in Surrey as Lee Pomeroy, saying the “devoted family man,” as described by his family, was on his way to the capital with his son for a day out when he was fatally stabbed by another passenger.
The incident was the second to come from knife crimes in the British railway network in the New Year holidays. Three people were critically injured in a Manchester train station in on the New Year’s Eve, in what authorities believe was a terrorist attack.
Pomeroy, the victim of the Friday assault on Surrey train, was pronounced dead in the carriage at Horsley station. Police said he had suffered multiple stab wounds, adding that the attack on the train travelling between Guildford and London Waterloo was a “violent killing”.
A man has been arrested by the police on suspicion of murder along with his accomplice, described by the police as a 27-year old who assisted the offender.
There was no mention of terrorism in police statements although authorities said the attack was not thought to be random.
Knife crime continues on a rampant scale in the UK. The capital London recorded its 10-year high in homicide rates last year, with most of the deaths coming from stabbings and violent assaults. The surge comes as police insist that a series of government cuts to their budgets have rendered the force unable to see to all emergencies.