Murder detectives quiz man, 28, over fatal taxi stabbing

The man, named locally as Junior Saleem Oakes, was taken into custody after he was found in the garden of a house in Birmingham on Tuesday evening.

The victim, who had still not been named yesterday, was repeatedly knifed inside a light-coloured Peugeot nearby at about 8am on Tuesday.

West Midlands Police said they believed she had been in a relationship with her attacker and both were passengers in the vehicle.

The driver of the taxi called 999 but the woman was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived and could not be saved.

Detective Chief Inspector Wayne Jones described the police investigation as “complex and dynamic” and appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Scores of police officers and a team of forensic investigators spent all Tuesday at the scene, carrying out house-to-house inquiries and scouring the street for evidence.

Roads nearby remained closed to traffic on Tuesday night.

A police spokesman said a post-mortem examination was due to take place yesterday, adding that specially trained officers were supporting the woman’s relatives.

Matthew Connelly, a neighbour who saw the incident from his window, said medics spent 30 minutes trying to save the woman.

He added: “It’s not something you really want to wake up to. Waking up and looking out of your window to this, it’s not nice.”

The arrested man, who is also known as Mohammed Saleem (Salim) Junior Oakes, was found in the garden of a house a few streets away from the scene.