Woman, 44, was found dead with her throat slashed in the street after neighbours heard 'terrible screams' as police arrest man, 45, over 'murder'
A murder victim had her throat slashed before being left to die in a pool of her own blood in a suburban street, according to horrified neighbours.
Police say the 44-year-old woman, who was wearing a pink coat, was pronounced dead at the scene opposite a nursery school in Ilford, east London, on Wednesday evening.
Shocked local residents told how they heard screams and saw blood on the pavement where the woman lay.
Part of the suburban street, where homes sell for around £500,000 remained cordoned off today, with a blue forensics tent erected on the pavement.
Police today remained in a street where a woman is said to have had her throat cut last night
Witnesses said the woman, who they believe was Eastern European, may be a local resident
Local resident Abid Khan, 65, said he saw the woman lying on the pavement at about 7.15pm on Wednesday.
The grandfather-of-three said: 'She was lying on the floor, and the blood was pouring on the side of the road. There was a pool of blood on the floor.
'There were a lot of people standing around calling the police. The paramedics turned up and tried to resuscitate her. By that time she was dead.
'A couple of the women said they heard screaming. It was quite loud. There was a lot of screaming going on up there. There's a lot of families here.'
The pensioner said he believed the victim was from Eastern Europe.
Fahad Khan, 35, who lives a few doors down, said: 'The incident happened just after 7pm. A woman screamed. I think she was Eastern European: Romanian or Polish.
'I saw the body. She had been cut from the neck - slashed across the neck. There was a lot of blood in the street.
'The police came. They covered the body, and then they blocked everything for DNA and forensics.'
The 44-year-old victim died in this street in Ilford, east London after suffering stab wounds
Pos teams were scouring the area last night before a man was arrested todaylice forensic
Mr Khan, a security officer who lives with his wife and two children, added: 'This woman lives in the road, I think. She was probably going down to the station or the local shops.'
He said he saw two men and a women talking to police officers in the street, who he believes were relatives or friends of the victim.
Mr Khan said: 'The woman was crying and screaming. She was in her 30s, she was a relative or a friend.
'As a father, it's very shocking. I feel sorry for the ladies who have children here. There's a nursery opposite. I am scared for the women down here.'
Residents in the street said they heard a scream before seeing police and ambulances arrive
Another witness told the Evening Standard: 'She just looked like someone who would have been coming home from work. It's shocking.'
Police have set up a crime scene just yards from a children's nursery and a nearby high school.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'Police were called by London Ambulance Service (LAS) to Norfolk Road, Ilford at 19:09hrs on Wednesday, 3 January following reports of an unresponsive woman in the street.
'Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and found a 44-year-old woman with serious stab injuries. She was pronounced dead at the scene at 19:16hrs.'
Police have said enquiries are ongoing and have appealed to anyone with information
The spokesman added: 'Next of kin have been notified but formal identification awaits. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.
'Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command investigate, led by Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams.
'In the early hours of Thursday, 4 January, a 45-year-old man was arrested by detectives at an address in Newham on suspicion of murder.
'He was taken to an east London police station where he remains at this time. Enquiries are ongoing.'
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