A woman travelling by train between London Bridge and New Cross stations in south-east London was approached by a man and asked if she were German. He put a knife to her throat and said, “I hate all Germans, especially women.”

Four months later, on Monday, July 9th, 1973, 17-year-old German au pair girl Heidi Mnilk, travelling on the same route, was stabbed to death and her body was then thrown on to the track.