Father held after boy's stab death

Nov 25 2009

A father of two suspected of stabbing his three-year-old son to death before turning the knife on himself remains under arrest in hospital.

The 31-year-old man - named in reports as Paul Otieno - is under guard after undergoing surgery for stab wounds to his neck and body.

His son Wilson was pronounced dead at the scene after neighbours dialled 999 following a furious row at a flat in Southwark, south-east London.

The suspect's 28-year-old wife was taken to hospital suffering a stab wound to the neck. She has since been discharged. A 17-month-old girl was found unharmed.

Investigators believe he attacked his wife after she said she wanted a divorce.

Neighbours spoke of their shock on hearing the news of the death of the three-year-old and on seeing paramedics battling to keep the father alive.

Kelly Turner, 34, a mother of two girls aged seven and five, who lives on the floor above the family, said she heard the mother screaming. She said: "I heard her screaming downstairs in the car park, you could tell she was in shock because she had a wound to her neck and she was losing quite a bit of blood.

"There were never any disturbances before and they were always quiet like most of the families are in that block and they kept themselves to themselves but when they saw you they would smile and they would say hello."

Southwark Council said the child was not known to its social services department. The council's chief executive, Annie Shepperd, said: "Our responsibility is to immediately check our records to find out if the children were known to us so that we can provide any information to the police.

"The results of our initial investigations are that the children were not known to social workers within Southwark Council's children's services department. We will of course be supporting the police and offering our support to the family."