A councillor was stabbed in the chest last night just 50 yards from his home in Newbury Park.
It is believed that Cllr Ross Hatfull was attacked by four men who were attempting to steal his mobile phone.
The Labour councillor for Valentines ward was taken to the Royal London Hospital, Whitechapel.
Labour leader Jas Athwal said: “He’s lucky to be alive. An inch one way or the other and that would have been it.”
Cllr Hatfull was released at 5am this morning from accident and emergency and is now at his home in Kimberley Avenue.
Cllr Athwal said: “It’s sadly a sign of the times we live in that the price of a phone is worth more than the price of a human life. I am thankful that he is ok.”
Another attack in a neighbouring road reportedly also occurred last night.
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