Teenager killed on football pitch in broad daylight
LOCALS ‘DEVASTATED’ AT 18-YEAR-OLD’S DEATH
AN Afghan refugee who was fatally stabbed in a Twickenham sports field last week asked his friend “why have I been stabbed?” as he lay dying.
Hazrat Wali, 18, collapsed on October 12 on the playing fields in Craneford Way after being attacked by a group of up to eight males near Richmond upon Thames College, where he studied construction and building.
A friend ran out of college and rushed towards the playing field to help Hazrat - according to a close relative. The relative told The Times: “His last words were ‘I don’t know why I’ve been stabbed. What’s my fault? What is my sin? Can you please tell me why I’ve been stabbed? Why?’”
Hazrat was from Notting Hill, he fled Afghanistan with his twin brother aged just 12. After reaching Vienna where he claimed asylum as an unaccompanied child, he moved to the UK in 2017 under the EU’s Dublin Convention.
He chose to move to London because he had cousins there and wanted to follow his dreams of playing cricket.
A cousin said: “His cousins were all waiting for him here. His brother is very sad and is not even talking, he is very upset at his brother’s passing.”
Sahil Kochay, another cousin of Hazrat’s, told The Standard his family in Afghanistan were unaware of his death because of a lack of internet in their remote village.
He added: “We are waiting for his body to be given back to us so we can take it back home and that’s the only way we can let his mum and dad know.”
Residents in the area said the stabbing was “tragic” and “shocking”, with some saying the police need to patrol the area more.
But some locals think the police are proactive enough in the community and there’s not much more they could be doing.
Resident Joanna Baker, 65, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m just very upset this is happening in and around this area.
“We see quite a lot of groups congregating in the park, so it’s just very concerning.”
She added: “The police should be monitoring the area regularly.
“I think it’s maybe helpful if they
do have a regular meeting with the schools and the colleges and just maybe walk around the streets just to show their faces.”
Alistair Potter, 66 who lives opposite the park, said: “I saw police and students milling around, obviously very upset, and ambulances too. This is all a bit shocking really.”
He added: “Police presence is not very far away of course so they are out quite quickly.”
A 16-year-old boy from Hammersmith and Fulham, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with the murder of Hazrat Wali.