Oxford Street Stabbing Victim Named

A murder hunt has been launched by police in London following the fatal stabbing of a young man outside a fast food restaurant.

The 22-year-old victim, named by police as Steven Bigby, was stabbed in a dispute after he left a McDonald's restaurant near Oxford Street just before 5pm on Monday.

While there were a number of witnesses to the assault on Britain's busiest shopping district, police have not yet made any arrests.

A knife has been recovered from the scene and a post mortem examination has revealed he died from a stab wound to the chest.

Acting Deputy Chief Inspector Bob Mahoney, of the Metropolitan Police said there was an altercation between two groups of young men on Monday afternoon.

He said: "Two groups of black men came together. A drink was thrown. The incident escalated very quickly and Steven was fatally stabbed."

Mr Mahoney went on to describe it as a "spontaneous incident", and said there is nothing to suggest it was gang related.

Police are hunting for four men, aged between 20 and 30 who fled the scene. One of the men was said to have been wearing a red T-shirt, another was wearing a white T-shirt.

A third man, who was described as "muscularly built" was wearing a vest while the fourth man was dressed in black clothing.

Members of the public are being urged to hand in any pictures of the incident.

"I know that a lot of people took photographs of the incident. If you've got photographs taken in Oxford Street yesterday, I'm asking you to contact police urgently," Mr Mahoney said.

A spokeswoman for McDonald's also said none of the food chain's staff members were involved in the incident.

The latest killing comes just days after the unprovoked murder of teenager Jimmy Mizen in London.

The 16-year-old victim was at the Three Cooks Bakery in Lee, south-east London on Saturday morning when he was challenged to come outside the shop for a fight. When he refused the attacker picked up an advertising board and smashed his way into the bakery.

He was the 13th teenager to be murdered in London this year.

(JM)