Ilford Lane murder: Councillors call for calm after stabbing of Romanian woman

Calm is being called for as councillors move to reassure residents after the Ilford Lane murder of a woman believed by police to be a prostitute.

As police officers hunting for the killer dredged up drains yesterday (Wednesday) in Loxford Lane, Ilford, the council leader urged against a “knee jerk reaction”.

Cllr Keith Prince said: “It is a very unfortunate situation, but we don’t want a knee jerk reaction. Top level meetings will take place with the police.”

He added: “It would be foolish to speculate until we know all the facts but we need to reassure people that we haven’t got a Jack the Ripper loose in Ilford Lane.”

Deputy council leader Cllr Ian Bond believes the ongoing issue with sex workers in Ilford Lane is difficult to tackle. Despite working with police to reduce the number of prostitutes in the area, it remains a problem. Cllr Bond said: “We need to work with police to make sure Ilford Lane is safe.”

Loxford Lane remained sectioned off yesterday, after the extensive 15-hour cordon was lifted on Tuesday.

Danny O’Brien, of Seven Kings and founder of action group Anti Knife UK, has called for Scotland Yard to reconsider a knife amnesty and for there to be a public meeting between the council, police and newspapers.