Police are hunting for five men who are believed to have been waiting for a 24-year-old new father at the Double K gym in Bexley on the morning he was murdered.

They are also appealing for information about George Barker's movements during the weekend before his murder and specifically Sunday evening into the morning of Monday, November 14.

Mr Barker, from South Darenth, was stabbed to death inside the gym in Stable Lane.

Police were called to the gym at 9.41am on Monday following reports of a stabbing.

A murder investigation was launched by the Homicide and Major Crime Command, led by Detective Chief Inspector Laurence Smith.

DCI Smith, said: "George Barker was a regular user of the gym and on the morning of his murder he arrived there around 09:15hrs, and was attacked shortly after.

"Our enquiries so far have led me to believe that there were five men inside the gym who were waiting for George Barker to arrive.

"Following the brutal assault on George the men left the gym and I am appealing to anyone who saw the men arriving in Stable Lane prior to the murder, or saw them leaving, to contact the police.

"I would also like to hear from anyone who heard from George over the weekend before his murder. I particularly want to know where George spent the evening of Sunday, 13 November, into Monday and where he was before he arrived at the gym.

"I retain an open mind as to the motive for George's death and urge anyone with information to contact the police or anonymously via Crimestoppers."

Mr Barker’s distraught mother Julie Barker appealed for anyone with information to contact police.

She said: “There were six of them. I just want information. [There were] no masks. It’s all we’ve got.

“If anybody knows anything, I need to find the people that did it. They all set on him, his friend was with him. That’s what his friend said.

“[It happened] at 9.40am, [I didn’t find out until] 3pm or 4pm. I was screaming down the phone until [the police] told me.”

Ms Barker said she did not think the men were members of the gym due to its size, comparing it to a “tin shed”, and that those who trained there knew each other.

She said her son’s partner had given birth to their unnamed baby daughter only five days before he was murdered, and that they were due to register a name this week.

She said: “He was cheeky. He was extremely good-looking.

“He had lots of friends, hundreds of friends.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 3985, a police non-emergency on 101 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.