N.Z. man stabbed to death in London

Press, 10 July 1985, Page 2

N.Z. man stabbed to death in London

By

HUGH BARLOW

NZPA staff correspondent London A New Zealand man, Michael Smith, aged 23, was stabbed to death in the London suburb of Clapham in the early hours of Saturday morning, the police said yesterday. He was on his way to his flat after walking a girlfriend home when he was attacked. His body was found on the edge of Clapham Common by a man walking his dog. A postmortem examination found that Mr Smith was stabbed with a knife which pierced the heart. He had several stab wounds. Mr Smith came to London about 18 months ago and was working as an accountant in the city’s financial district. A police spokesman said yesterday there was no firm lead in the case. However, a local resident who had been walking near the scene of the killing had told them he was followed by a group of youths not long before the attack on Mr Smith, which the police believe occurred soon after midnight. The resident said the youths were waiting in a group of trees as he walked across the common about 11.40 p.m. on Friday. When they began following him he sprinted io his house, about 500 m away. He later learned that Mr Smith’s body was found at the spot where the youths had been waiting. The police spokesman told NZPA the youths were still being sought, “maybe as suspects and maybe as witnesses.” He said Mr Smith’s relatives in New Zealand had been informed. He would not say which part of the country Mr Smith was from.