A 17-YEAR-OLD boy is in a critical condition after being stabbed outside a restaurant that was the scene of a fatal stabbing less than a month ago.

A proactive police patrol found the teenager at 3.55pm on Wednesday last week in Townsend Road, Southall right next to the Lahori Village, where restaurauteur Imtiaz Hussein Syed was attacked and stabbed on January 19. However, a police source said there is no evidence to suggest the two incidents are linked.

The boy had only just been attacked and was able to communicate with the officers before passing out. He has been unconscious at Ealing Hospital ever since, though his condition has now stabilised.

The police were able to glean that the teenager was stabbed once in the torso by somebody he knew.

A man, thought to be a witness, provided scant details at the scene but disappeared as officers rendered first aid. Police are eager to talk to him again and are searching for an Asian man in a turban.

DS Mark Brookes, of Southall, said: "We have searched nearby houses, drains and adjoining streets for evidence and are hoping the victim will come round soon so we can interview him."

Information to 8810 1212.