Charlotte Huggins (pictured) was stabbed to death in her own home yesterday
The first stab victim of the New Year has been named as 33-year-old mother Charlotte Huggins.
She was stabbed to death at her home in Camberwell, south-east London, at 4.20am yesterday hours after wishing 'all a happy new year' on Facebook.
Police officers were called to the house at 4.20am – and she was pronounced dead half an hour later.
A 34-year-old man who is believed to have been known to the victim was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder and was taken to a police station.
A crowd of about 15 people, believed to be friends and relatives of the victim, gathered near the scene of the murder yesterday but declined to speak.
Flowers have been laid outside the home, and one card read: 'Loved by everyone'. In tributes online the mother was hailed as a 'beautiful angel'.
It follows the capital's deadliest year since 2008 as London saw 134 people murdered in 2018.
Charlotte Huggins, 33, was killed yesterday in Camberwell, south-east London, and flowers have been laid outside her house (pictured)
Charlotte Huggins (pictured) has been named as the first stab victim of 2019 after she was killed yesterday
The 33-year-old mother (pictured) has been revealed as the first person to die as the result of a stabbing this year
Charlotte Huggins (pictured) died after the mother was stabbed at her childhood home in south-east London
A spokesman for the Met said: 'Police were called by the London Ambulance Service to a property in Camberwell at 4.20am on January 1 to a report of a stabbing.
'Officers attended and found a woman, aged in her early 30s, with stab injuries. Despite the efforts of paramedics, she was pronounced dead at 4.50am.
'Her next of kin have not been informed. Formal identification is yet to take place. A post-mortem examination will be held in due course.
'A man, aged 34, was initially arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.
'He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains custody.
'Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating and enquiries continue.'
Yesterday police were also called at 5.36am to a property on Park Lane in Mayfair to reports of a stabbing, and attended with London Ambulance Service paramedics. The police were seen on camera holding an alleged suspect at the scene.
Police in Park Lane, London after a security guard was stabbed to death and three others injured as they tried to bar a group of men from entering a New Year's Eve party
Police and forensic investigators at a property in Park Lane, London after a security guard was stabbed to death and three others injured
Police forensics experts investigate a murder in London's Park Lane just five and a half hours into the New Year
The doorman, said to be in his early 30s, was found with stab injuries following the private party and pronounced dead at 6.05am. Officers have not made any arrests.
Two other security staff and a woman who came to the door were also stabbed, and taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The building where the incident occurred consists of luxury suites owned by the Jumeirah Group and offer a 24 hour gym, a second floor restaurant, chauffered car services and a Heathrow VIP service.
Overlooking Hyde Park, Grosvenor boasts on its website of a 'unique experience at London's most exclusive address'.
Just a few minutes walk from Harrods and Selfridges, the suites offer 130 contemporary residences, including four London suites and four penthouse suites.
It offers: 'Exclusive guests only Atrium restauranrt and 24 hour in-room dining.
'Luxury services include daily maid service and 24/7 consierge and guest services.'
Terrified residents near the scene of the shooting at Visions Video Bar said they fear walking to work every morning because they are faced with violent revellers
Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Andy Partridge said: 'The incident took place outside a venue that was hosting a private party.
'I would like to hear from anyone who was present at that event and witnessed this incident. A number of witnesses have already been spoken to.
'But it is clear many others who were present are yet to be traced, some of whom may have captured the attack on their mobile phones.
'Rising gun and knife crime brought the total 2018 figure of homicides being investigated by Scotland Yard to 134 - the highest since 2008 when there were 154.
Police are battling against 180 violent gangs across London dragging children into crime, amid more than 70 deaths last year involving a knife, and a dozen with a gun.
Police cars at the scene following the shooting at 5am this morning in Dalston, East London
Meanwhile police insisted today that they are powerless to arrest 'violent drunken idiots' as New Year's Eve celebrations descended into chaos across Wild West Britain.
One woman in her 20s was shot at a nightclub in Dalston, East London, while a drunken thug in the West Midlands attacked a partygoer with a 2ft sword.
In Essex, a youth was stabbed once in the stomach at Club 195 in Epping after being involved in 'a verbal exchange' with a group of men on the dancefloor.
Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, said officers are becoming powerless to arrest 'violent or aggressive drunken idiots' due to cuts.
Elsewhere, Sussex Police Chief Inspector Roy Hodder said his force managed more than 100 emergency calls an hour between midnight and 3am this morning.
Married father-of-two Mr Cooke tweeted shortly before 8am today: 'Just got home after the New Year's Eve night shift.
'Reflection - the absolute number of violent/aggressive drunken idiots who 10, 15 years ago feet wouldn't have touched ground on way to custody - now simply tolerated.
Richard Cooke, chairman of the West Midlands Police Federation, said officers are becoming powerless to arrest 'violent or aggressive drunken idiots' due to cuts
'Reason - we simply hadn't got the officers to do anything else. Arrests inevitably take officers away for hours these days and we can't afford to lose them.
'The line of what constitutes acceptable behaviour is pushed further and further to make ends meet.'
He spoke out after a drunken thug was arrested on suspicion of attacking a woman with a 2ft-long sword at a New Year's Eve party in the region.
Mr Cooke tweeted a picture of the 'fearsome' weapon, saying it had been discarded in the bushes outside a party – and the suspect was in custody.
Earlier in the evening in the West Midlands region, two people were robbed of their phones by three thugs who threatened them with machetes.
Meanwhile in East London, a woman in her 20s was taken to hospital with a bullet wound to her leg
