Murder probe as girl, four, stabbed to death

A murder investigation was under way today after a four-year-old girl was found stabbed to death on a housing estate in London.

Police found the body of the child at an address in Clapton yesterday after reports of a knife incident shortly after 3pm.

A woman, believed to be girl’s mother, was arrested on suspicion of murder. She has since been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and is in a secure unit.

Paramedics attended the incident in Elderfield Road on the Chatsworth Estate, but the girl was pronounced dead at the scene. Scotland Yard said next of kin have been informed, but they await formal identification.

A post-mortem examination will take place today at Poplar mortuary in east London.

The Metropolitan Police’s child abuse investigation command is leading the murder inquiry.