Murder probe after man found dying on New Year’s Day in Whitechapel’s Sidney Street

An appeal for witnesses has begun following a suspected murder just 90 minutes into the New Year in London’s East End.

Police were called by an ambulance crew when they found a man with a head injury on the pavement at Sidney Street in Whitechapel at 1.30am yesterday.

The 43-year-old man died at the scene, just a few hundred yards from the Royal London Hospital, despite efforts by paramedics to save him.

A special post-mortem is being held today at Poplar Mortuary, with formal identification taking place in due course. The man’s family have been informed.

A couple have been arrested on suspicion of murder, a 34-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman who are currently being held in custody pending further enquires.

Detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command have begun a murder investigation, Scotland Yard confirmed today.

They are appealing for witnesses who were in Sidney Street, between Whitechapel Road and Commercial Road, around 1.30am New Year’s Day, or anyone with information, to contact the incident room on 020-8345 3985, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800-555111.

It is ther second murder investigation in Whitechapel in a week, following a 40-year-old woman found dead at Denning Point high-rise tower block in Commercial Street, half-a-mile-away, on Saturday, December 27. A man was later arrested on suspicion of murder.