A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a boy, 10, was found dead in a west London flat.
The woman, in her 40s, attended a police station and spoke to officers at about 2.30am on Sunday. Officers and paramedics attended a residential address in Cumberland Park, Acton, where they found the body of a 10-year-old boy.
The Metropolitan police said: “Officers believe they know [the boy’s] identity but await formal identification. Next of kin have been informed. The woman, aged in her 40s, has been arrested on suspicion of murder. She was known to the child; nobody else is sought at this stage in connection with the death.”
The Met said specialist crime detectives were investigating and that a postmortem examination would be arranged in due course.
Neighbours who were woken by the sirens of two ambulances and multiple police cars arriving on their street said they were “shaken” and “terribly upset” by news of the boy’s death.
One resident who did not wish to be named said: “It is horrific. We were in tears this morning. It is very upsetting.”
Nick Jones, 61, a local resident and priest, said he was woken by sirens at about 3am. He said: “I think it’s shattering. I’m shaking a bit and it’s hugely upsetting. The people who live there and the people involved are in my thoughts and prayers. We are all only finding out now and we are all in shock. It’s very sad.”
