Two men have been taken to hospital after being found stabbed minutes apart in Plaistow on Tuesday evening, in two incidents less than a mile from each other that emergency services have not yet said are linked.
The first call came just before 7.50pm on Tuesday, October 28, when the London Ambulance Service was sent to Pelly Road, a residential street in Plaistow, east London, after reports of a stabbing.
Two ambulance crews, paramedics in fast response cars and an incident response officer were mobilised to the street. A trauma team from London’s Air Ambulance also attended, travelling by car.
A man found injured at the scene was treated by paramedics before being taken to a major trauma centre.
Then, just seven minutes later, ambulance crews were alerted to a second injured person nearby in Dimsdale Walk. An ambulance crew and paramedics in fast response cars were sent to the second patient, also a man.
He too was treated at the scene before being rushed to a major trauma centre as a priority.
Pelly Road and Dimsdale Walk are less than a mile apart, and the two discoveries came so close together that the question of whether they are connected is now central to what happens next.
What is confirmed — and what is not
So far, officials have confirmed the bare outline only: two men found injured, minutes apart, in two nearby streets, both taken to major trauma centres after treatment at the scene.
The ages of the two men have not been confirmed, and neither has the condition of either man. It is not known whether either man’s injuries are life-threatening, and no such claim should be read into the fact that both were taken to major trauma centres — those are the specialist hospitals used for the most serious injuries, and the priority transfer of the second man reflects the urgency of his treatment rather than a confirmed prognosis.
Further details are awaited from the Metropolitan Police, which has not yet said whether the two reports are being treated as linked incidents, whether any arrests have been made, or whether officers are looking for anyone in connection with either stabbing.
That silence is normal at this stage of an investigation, but it leaves the key questions unanswered: whether one person was responsible for both attacks, whether the two men knew each other, and what, if anything, happened in the minutes between the two discoveries.
Two streets, minutes apart
The geography matters here. Pelly Road and Dimsdale Walk are both quiet residential streets in Plaistow, and the short distance between them — under a mile — combined with the seven-minute gap between the two ambulance calls is what makes the possible link impossible to ignore, even though officials have not confirmed one.
Investigators will now be working through the obvious lines of inquiry: CCTV from both streets and the roads between them, accounts from residents who may have heard or seen something on Tuesday evening, and hospital updates on both men’s conditions.
Until the Metropolitan Police gives its account, the two incidents stand as separate reports that happen to share a time, a neighbourhood and a pattern — and nothing more should be assumed about them.
It is the second time this month that emergency services have been called to a serious incident in Plaistow, after an earlier emergency-services incident on Plaistow Road, but there is no suggestion of any connection between that incident and Tuesday evening’s stabbings.
East London has seen a string of knife incidents in recent days, including a teenager stabbed in Leyton on Tuesday evening and the shooting of two men near Islington’s O2 Academy on Monday night, but each of those cases is being dealt with separately, and none has been linked to the Plaistow incidents.
What happens next
The next update is likely to come from the Metropolitan Police, which is expected to confirm whether the two stabbings are being treated as linked, whether anyone has been arrested, and the conditions of the two men.
Anyone who was in Pelly Road or Dimsdale Walk on Tuesday evening, or who saw anything unusual in the area around 7.50pm, can contact the police on 101. Information can also be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
This is a developing story and will be updated as the police confirm more details.
