Birmingham double stabbing victims were Big Issue vendors Birmingham's Union Street, where one of the two Big Issue vendors was found. The other man was stabbed in Martineau Place. A man has been arrested after two men selling the Big Issue were stabbed to death in Birmingham city centre on Friday evening. West Midlands police said hundreds of shoppers and workers may have witnessed the stabbings just before 6pm. One of the victims, in his 30s, is understood to have been stabbed outside a Sainsbury's store in Martineau Place, and the second, also in his 30s, was found slumped near Boots in Union Street. Shortly after the incident, a 23-year-old man was arrested in New Street, near the Odeon cinema, and is currently in custody. A woman, who runs a stall near the Sainsbury's store and did not want to be named, said: "If it's who I think it is they've been around here for a while. They were homeless and two lovely men. One of them had a dog called Scooby who I used to bring titbits for. I can't believe they're both dead. A man whose shop overlooks the store said: "I heard there had been a row in the morning and then a bloke had gone back and stabbed them both." The Big Issue confirmed that both stabbing victims were its vendors. The publication's founder and editor-in-chief, John Bird, said: "Myself and everyone at the Big Issue has been deeply saddened to hear the tragic news that two of our well-liked Birmingham-based vendors were stabbed to death in the city centre yesterday evening. This awful crime, perpetrated against two hardworking, mild-mannered men, only serves to illustrate the extreme vulnerability of people who live and work on the streets. Which is why we at the Big Issue are constantly striving to create opportunities which will help our vendors to get off the streets and out of harm's way.