A soon to be married solicitor has been brutally stabbed to death just before he reached his front door in Willesden last night.

Police said the attack on Tom ap Rhys Pryce, 31, was so vicious that his two killers may also have been injured.

Ninety minutes before his death the young solicitor phoned his fiance, Adele Eastman, from a party to say he would be home at 11.30pm.

But at around 11.45pm witnesses saw how two men overwhelmed him in Bathurst Gardens, north-west London.

The Linklaters solicitor, still dressed in a grey suit, stumbled further up the road towards the house he shared with his fiance.

The couple planned to marry in September.

Mr Rhys Pryce died shortly after midnight at Central Middlesex Hospital.

Detectives believe he took the train to Kensal Green station, from where he walked the last 500 yards home.

His attackers, described as two black men in their early 20s, both 5ft6in tall, ran off in the opposite direction towards Clifford Gardens. One man was wearing a hooded top.

The 31-year-old victim leaves a brother, mother and father who live in Surrey.

Detective Superintendent Julian Worker, who leads the inquiry, said it was a "particularly vicious and gratuitous" murder.

"Due to the nature of this attack it is quite possible that one or both the suspects may have sustained injuries during the attack."

He urged anyone who knew of men with such injuries to call 020 8247 7818 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.