John Mann's London base is the block of flats where fifteen year old Arsema Dawit was stabbed to death yesterday. 

John Mann commented “I was a passing acquaintance of Arsema Dawit, who lived on the next floor above me in a very normal London ex-council block at the back of Waterloo station.

Like other teenagers living here she was polite and smiling whenever we opened the door to the main stairwell for one another. I rent a room in this block during weekdays and I regularly leave for Parliament at the same time as the school kids leave for school. For seven years this block of flats has been happy in its quiet anonymity.

The mundane nature of our passing acquaintance makes the horrific violent death that ended her short life seem all the more brutal.  The mind numbing reality of knife crime and murder is slowly sinking in”.

Arsema Dawit's body was found in a lift at the flats in Waterloo, on Monday afternoon.  Neighbours and friends said the girl was being "harassed" by a man and her family had contacted police about it.

Officers confirmed they received an "allegation of assault" from the family in April. They also said the victim had known the man held over her killing.

The teenager, who turned 15 on Friday, is believed to have returned home to the block of flats where she lived when she was attacked.

Paramedics arrived at the scene within four minutes but were unable to revive the teenager, who suffered multiple wounds, a London Ambulance Service spokesman said.

A man in his 30s was arrested nearby on Monday and is being questioned by detectives over the killing.