A brave neighbour fought to save the life of a dying man after being woken by his cries for help.

Islington Gazette: Westcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria FioreWestcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria Fiore (Image: Archant)

Despite his efforts, the 29-year-old victim died in hospital hours after being stabbed repeatedly in a flat on the Dover Court Estate.

The man told the Gazette he heard someone “begging for help” at 2am yesterday, and knew straightaway it was serious.

“I told my partner to call the police and not let anyone in that wasn’t me,” said the hero, who asked not to be named. “I put on boots and went to help, I found a man in the hallway badly bleeding to death and did my best to control his bleeding with the help of a neighbour.

“I was trying to keep pressure on the bleeding, shout instructions to the neighbour to get me something flat like a credit card so I could try and keep his lung from deflating, and also keep my head up in case the attacker was still there.

Islington Gazette: Westcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria FioreWestcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria Fiore (Image: Archant)

“He wasn’t able to answer many questions about who he was but just kept begging me to save him. The police arrived with a paramedic very shortly after and took over.”

The neighbour praised the actions of the emergency services, who he said arrived “rapidly” at Westcliff House, between Baxter Road and Dove Road.

A 22-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder. She is in hospital with injuries not said to be life-threatening.

A 53-year-old man has also been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender and is being questioned.

Islington Gazette: Westcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria FioreWestcliff House was cordoned off on Tuesday morning. Picture: Valeria Fiore (Image: Archant)

The man is yet to be formally identified but police notified his next of kin. A post mortem will now take place.

Neighbour and former councillor Paula Belford lives near the flat where the man was stabbed and woke up when the neighbours began shouting.

She told the Gazette: “I wasn’t really sleeping. I heard a shout and there was police outside. I got up and saw they were trying to resuscitate someone under the arch. Then they brought someone out on a bed, put him in ambulance.

“About 45 minutes later they brought a lady down, she was walking. They put her in an ambulance and they went off.

“The police have been here since then. They did a really good job, they responded really well.”

Paula has lived on the estate for more than 30 years, and said there’s not usually violence.

“It’s generally quite a nice estate,” she continued. “Better than others in Islington. I’m just shocked that in this day and age everybody resolves issues with weapons and no one respects life.”

Det Ch Insp Dave Whellams said: “At this early stage, we know that a small group of people had gathered in a flat and that in the early hours of Monday morning a man received a number of stab wounds to the upper body.

“We are keen to trace all those present at the flat during the attack. Work is continuing to identify others involved and piece together the events that led up to this brutal murder.”

Anyone with information can call police on 0208 345 3775 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visitcrimestoppers-uk.org.

You can also tweet information to police via @MetCC.