A stabbed teenager collapsed on the floor of a barber shop in front of horrified customers including a mother and son as he sought refuge from attackers.
The victim, 17, staggered into French Waves in Woolwich last night, where staff tried to stem the bleeding with towels before paramedics arrived.
It is thought the boy was knifed during a fight in a flat 350 yards away at about 6pm, before fleeing into the street. A trail of blood could be seen along Woolwich New Road where forensics experts were still working late last night.
The teenager was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Barber Oladimeji Adewunmi, 42, had been cutting a customer’s hair when the boy burst into the busy shop.
He told the Evening Standard: “There was blood on his face and he didn’t say anything, I think he was in shock.
“There was bleeding coming out of his trousers. I said, ‘What happened to you?’ Then he sat down, and then I saw more blood coming out of his trouser leg and then he collapsed on the floor. That’s when we called for an ambulance. When I was on the phone to the ambulance they asked me to check if he was breathing and he was, but his eyes were closed.
“We got a towel and put pressure on his wound. It looked really bad, there was blood everywhere.”
A mother and her son were among the customers waiting to have their hair cut when the victim came in, Mr Adewunmi said. “The boy and his mother had to leave. They told me later how scared they were and how shocked they were at what they saw.”
He added: “This knife crime is getting out on control, it is happening every day.”
A resident at Percy Eagles Court described hearing a fight between two groups of teenagers before seeing blood in the stairwell.
A police spokesman said: “At this early stage there have been no arrests. Inquiries continue to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.”
Anyone with information is asked to call 101 ref CAD 6524/27 Nov or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
