A father was stabbed and beaten to death in front of his 7-year-old son by a gang he was trying to protect the child from in almost exactly the same way his own father was killed 23 years ago, according to the Daily Mail.

David Martin, 40, a window cleaner, was trying to protect his son from a band of bullies who were picking on the boy during a football game outside his house in South London.

The youths stabbed Martin with a Samurai sword and beat him to death with golf clubs and cricket bats while the child looked on, the Mail reported.

Martin's own father was also beaten to death 23 years ago by a group of youths with a metal bar who were teasing Martin and turned on his dad when he intervened.

"I can't believe this tragedy has happened twice to the same family," an elderly witness to the crime, who asked not to be identified, told the Mail.