Father killed in row over football.

A FATHER was attacked with a hatchet and killed in a garden yards from where he lived, in a row about his son's football, said neighbours.

The man, believed to be in his 40s and named locally as David Martin, was set upon with the hatchet and a golf club, according to residents in Mitcham, London.

A neighbour said: "Two young boys around here were picking on Mr Martin's son and they nicked the ball off him.

"He came round to have a word with the father of one of them and another neighbour got involved. He attacked him and it all went off."

The neighbour said Mr Martin had retrieved the ball but afterwards he had been threatened with the hatchet.

A 14-year-old girl and two women, aged 41 and 69, were last night released on police bail pending further inquiries.

A 37-year-old man and a 41-year-old woman remain in police custody.