Stop shameful knife craze says tragic victim’s family
A MURDERED student’s family demanded action yesterday to stop the “shameful” knife craze which claimed his life.
Sami Sidhom’s grieving relatives called on justice chiefs to end the easy access to blades which is fuelling the bloody epidemic.
They spoke out days after 18-yearold Sami was stabbed as he returned home from watching his favourite football team.
Their call from the heart came in the wake of the Daily Express’s crusade to ban shops from selling deadly blades to teenagers.
Yesterday we exposed the scandal of retailers all over the country happily selling knives to youngsters despite the law insisting they must be 18.
Ambushed
In our investigation, shop staff went ahead with knife sales despite a crime surge which has led to 97 fatal stabbings this year.
After the Daily Express hit the newstands, Sami’s family said in a statement released by Scotland Yard: “It is shameful that a single knife is allowed on the street.
“There isn’t a single fathomable reason why this is still tolerated, unchecked and unstopped.
“We’ve somehow ended up in a society where our brightest hopes are taken before they’ve even started.
“Those who are responsible for enforcing the banning of knives in our streets are also responsible for his death.
“How many more have to die this way before everyone cares?
“How many more communities like ours have to be terrorised by mindless stabbings? Sami, who lived with his father Saher, 44, and grandmother in Forest Gate, east London, was murdered as he returned from watching West Ham play Stoke City.
The “model son” was stabbed repeatedly after being set upon by a gang just yards from his front door, shortly before 11pm last Monday.
Eyewitnesses said he was ambushed by two cars carrying a total of about four men. Neighbours who saw the attack bravely rushed to help him, using towels to stem the bleeding.
The family said: “Sami was a model son, model student, a dedicated West Ham fan who was studying to be a lawyer to bring fair play and justice to those who needed it.
“He never had a chance to do any of that because he was stabbed in the back by cowards in the dark. He was only 18. Someone once said evil triumphs when good people do nothing.
“Nothing will bring Sami back, but we want his killers brought to justice. We would like to appeal to everyone – if you have any information, no matter how small it is, please do tell the police.”
They also paid tribute to neighbours and passers-by who tried in vain to aid the Queen Mary University of London student.
“We would like to thank everyone who came to Sami’s aid and comforted him in his final hour,” they said.
“We are deeply grateful for the incredible kindness and bravery that our neighbours, regardless of their creed, or colour, have shown to Sami.”
A post-mortem examination yesterday gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Wrigley said: “This investigation continues and, while the motive for this horrific attack still remains unclear, we are making progress.
“I now appeal to those people in the community who know what took place or who is responsible to come forward and give Sami’s family the justice they deserve.”
Later yesterday a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Detectives investigating the murder of 18-year-old Sami Sidhom in Forest Gate have made an arrest.
“A 22-year-old man was arrested on Monday, 23 April on suspicion of murder. He is in custody and has been taken to a police station.”