A Nigerian man has met an ugly fate in London after he was brutally stabbed to death while walking into Barnet Hospital. This is the first picture of the latest casualty of London’s knife crime epidemic, Standard UK reported.

The Nigerian man was identified as Seun Mcmillan, 23, known as Shey. He suffered several stab wounds and collapsed after walking into Barnet Hospital on Tuesday night. He was rushed into emergency surgery but died an hour later at 8.30pm.

Mr Mcmillan was the seventh fatal victim of knife crime on London’s streets in ten days. Homicide detectives believe the 23-year-old was attacked four miles away in a playing field at Masefield Crescent, close to his family home. He is thought to have been driven to hospital.

Friends and relatives lit candles at a tearful vigil at the scene last night as police officers searched drains and checked beneath vehicles in a hunt for the murder weapon.

Witnesses said they alerted police after an argument broke out “over money” between a group of young men gathered in the park. The victim was seen to collapse as he fled back towards his home.

A cousin, who did not wish to be named, told the Standard: “He was just so bubbly, he is just a normal guy and he didn’t deserve what happened. He wasn’t supposed to be there.

“The last time I saw him at the park we were playing football, he loved it and played centre back. I have no idea what happened to him.

“His mum is just trying to cope. Everybody knows him around here they all liked him, he was a popular guy.”

In a note Mr Milly’s grandparents said: “Such a wonderful and caring young man taken away from all of us family and friends. You will always be in our hearts forever, rest in peace.”

The latest killing comes after a week of bloodshed on the capital’s streets in which six other men died from knife attacks. A total of 17 people under 25 have been fatally stabbed in London so far this year.

The Met has responded by launching an 80-strong task force to be deployed to trouble spots to curb flare-ups of violence and is understood to have increased stop and search in knife crime hotspots.

In a week long operation officers and police cadets are carrying out test purchases of knives in stores and promoting “amnesty bins” for knives around London.

Police carrying out weapon sweeps on Operation Sceptre patrols have already uncovered an array of knives hidden by gangs.