An 82-year-old woman has been killed in a suspected
beheading in the garden of a north London house.
Palmira Silva was found at an address in Nightingale Road, Edmonton, at about
13:00 BST, police said. Officers found her collapsed in a back garden and she was pronounced dead at the scene.
A 25-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and is in custody. Detectives said there is no suggestion the killing had a terrorist motive.
The man is in hospital being treated for injuries suffered when he was arrested, police said.
'Lives on the line'
A Taser was used during the arrest and a firearms officer is believed to have suffered a broken wrist.
Police said they were initially called to reports of a man armed with a knife and eyewitnesses said he had attacked an animal, possibly a cat or a dog.
Speaking at the scene of the attack, Cdr Simon Letchford said police had distracted the man while they evacuated nearby houses.
"Officers had to do everything they could to make other people safe and evacuate houses and put their lives on the line to make sure this individual did not cause further harm," he said.
He added officers smashed windows to get people out of properties after the man had been "cornered" in a house.
Police said they had traced the victim's next of kin but were unwilling to speculate on the nature of her injuries or the type of weapon used.
Neighbours said the killer was a Nigerian who had been sleeping at the home of a friend in recent weeks. Others said the heavily tattooed killer is well-known in the neighbourhood, where he has the nickname ‘Fat Nick’.
One said: ‘He’s a crazy guy. He’s got a big belly and tattoos and he walks the streets sticking his fingers up at people like Somalis.’
A neighbour who knew Mrs Silva, whose husband Domenico died several years ago, said she was ‘such a sweet lady’ who still worked every day in Silva's Cafe on Church Street, Edmonton.
Omg...
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