Police name boy, 14, stabbed to death in mass brawl in Croydon
A 14-YEAR-OLD boy who was stabbed to death during a mass brawl outside a train station has been named by police.
Jermaine Cools turned up at a hospital in south London with multiple knife wounds and despite the efforts of doctors to save him, he died a short time later, police said.
The schoolboy was attacked during a fight near West Croydon station in south London just after 6.30pm on Thursday. When police arrived no injured victims were found, but about half an hour later Jermaine arrived at hospital in a life-threatening condition.
A post-mortem examination gave the Croydon boy’s cause of death as multiple stab wounds, police added.
The force yesterday named the victim and released pictures of him in an appeal for information about his killers.
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “Detectives have launched a murder investigation following a stabbing in Croydon. Police were called to London Road, close to West Croydon Railway Station, [to] reports of a fight involving a number of people. Officers attended but no suspects or victims were found.
“Shortly after 19:00hrs, police attended a south London hospital after a 14-year-old boy self-presented with stab wounds.
“Despite the efforts of [doctors], the boy died a short time later. His next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers.”
It is the 27th teenage killing in the capital in 2021, equal to a previous peak in 2017 and surpassing the figure of 17 during the whole of last year.
It also means that this year is on track to be the worst for teenage homicides since the previous peak in 2008, when 29 youngsters lost their lives.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Vandenbergh, from the Met’s Specialist Crime unit leading the investigation, called on any motorists with dashcam footage to get in touch with officers.
He said: “While our investigation continues to make good progress, I am still appealing to anyone who witnessed this fight in the vicinity of West Croydon station on Thursday evening to come forward.
“I am also keen to hear from any road users who may have captured events on dashcam – your footage could [be] vital in piecing together what happened.”
This case follows criticism last week of the protesters, such as Extinction Rebellion, who waste police time by diverting resources away from tackling violence in the capital.