Ananova:

A senior Metropolitan Police officer has apologised to the family of a young father shot dead after standing up to a gang of youths in the same road where he was stabbed just months earlier.

Peter Woodhams, a 22-year-old father-of-one, was shot moments after a confrontation with the gang outside a parade of shops in Freemasons Road, Canning Town, east London.

Only seven months ago he had been attacked by a group of youths and stabbed in the neck near the same shops, but nobody was brought to justice. A senior Scotland Yard officer apologised for "any hurt" that the previous investigation may have caused.

His fiancee, Jane Bowden, claims she phoned police every day for five weeks following the knife attack, but said officers never even took a statement from her.

Commander Rod Jarman told a press conference in Forest Gate, east London: "We will robustly deal with any failings in our investigation of the previous incident and make sure that those matters are dealt with. I would also like to make my apologies for any hurt that that investigation may have caused the family."

Detective Chief Inspector Ian Stevenson, leading the probe, said he is trying to establish whether the previous stabbing of Mr Woodhams in January was linked to Monday's murder, and also revealed that a handgun had been used in Monday's attack, and added that it was likely that more than one shot had been fired.

After the initial confrontation with the youths, early on Monday evening, Mr Woodhams drove the short distance home in a black Ford Focus and went in, complaining to his fiancee of "trouble outside".

He went back out, apparently to speak to the youths, but just a few moments later he was shot. Mr Woodhams, a television satellite engineer, managed to stagger back towards his house, before collapsing in front of his horrified fiancee.

Paramedics rushed to the scene and attempted to save his life, but he was pronounced dead on arrival at the Royal London Hospital.

A 14-year-old boy arrested in connection with the investigation has been released on bail.