As man is stabbed to death on Oxford St, knife-carrying thugs will escape with a fine

Last updated at 15:04pm on 13th May 2008

Thugs found carrying knives should not be jailed under new proposals announced on the day a man died after his throat was slit on London's Oxford Street.


Britain's most senior judge, Lord Chief Justice Phillips, says people found with knives for the first time should escape with a community order.
The sentence could even be lowered to a fine if there were mitigating circumstances, according to his advice which has been issued to magistrates' courts by the Sentencing Guidelines Council.
His guidelines emerged today, as police named the victim of yesterday's fatal stabbing in Oxford Street as Steven Bigby, a 22-year-old from north London.


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Stunned shoppers watched as paramedics tried to save
the victim's life after the Oxford Street attack Shoppers witnessed horrific scenes as two men pounced on Mr Bigby as he left McDonald's, then stabbed him and slit his throat.


People scattered as he stumbled out onto the street and collapsed.
Two men were seen running away from the scene and a blood-stained pen-knife was found outside a bookshop 50 metres away.


It is the fifth fatal stabbing in London since Boris Johnson became mayor less than a fortnight ago, pledging a zero-tolerance policy to knife crime in the capital.



Lord Phillips has said those found in possession
of a knife could be let off with a fine

A spokesman from Scotland Yard said today: "We do not believe that he was targeted. We do not believe that it is related to another crime."
Detectives are today examining footage from CCTV cameras which is believed to have caught the murder on film and are calling for the public to come forward with any pictures of the scene.


Acting Detective Chief Inspector Bob Mahoney from the Met's Homicide and Serious Crime Command, said: "We would be very keen to see these photographs as they could hold key information.


"This attack took place at a peak time in one of the busiest streets in London.


"We are very keen to speak to anyone who was in the Oxford Street area at the time of the incident who either witnessed this violent attack or who saw people running from the area."
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A bloody knife found lying on the street 50 metres away could be the murder weapon

Witnesses claimed the man was stabbed and had his throat cut as shoppers scattered

Oxford Street was sealed off yesterday as paramedics fought to save the victim as hundreds of shoppers and commuters looked on. He was taken to St Thomas' Hospital but died shortly after arrival.
A worker at the HMV music store, which is opposite McDonald's, said: "I heard that first they stabbed him and then lunged back at him and slashed his throat. I can't believe someone would do this in broad daylight. It could have happened to anyone of us. It could have happened to me. It's crazy."


Joe Hill-Wilson, 26, said: "He stumbled into the road. There were lots of paramedics around him giving him CPR, and hundreds of people watching." Another witness said: "So many people were around I can't believe those guys thought they could get away with stabbing someone. You just don't expect something like this to happen
One woman said a member of the public had tried to help the dying man.
She said: "He was on the floor. There was a woman with him, her hands covered in blood. She was trying to help him."


Since January, last year there have been 39 teenage murders in the capital.


The latest killing follows the death of 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen in Lee, South-East London, on Saturday. He was the 13th teenager to be murdered in London this year.


On Sunday, two youths were wounded in a double stabbing in Holloway, North London, and 68 young people under 25 have been killed with guns or knives since the start of the year.



losed of part of the street while paramedics battled to save the man's life