Four youths dead after knife attacks

TWO teenagers were among four young men stabbed to death in London in a series of New Year knife attacks spanning 15 hours.

The 17-year-old and 18-year-old, as well as two other victims aged 20, were murdered in separate incidents, with one chased by a mob after a row on a bus.

The attacks came despite thousands of police officers flooding the streets to secure the midnight celebrations.

They brought the toll of murdered teenagers in London last year to 26, the highest number for a decade. Twenty of the victims were stabbed.

Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is responsible for the ‘London needs you alive’ campaign, condemned the violence.

Commander Neil Jerome, of the Metropolitan Police, said ‘small groups’ were responsible for disorder and violence that led to ‘utterly tragic consequences’.

He added: ‘It is heartbreaking that, at a time when so many of us are contemplating what lies ahead in 2018, four families are dealing with the grief of losing a loved one to senseless violence and the callous use of knives as lethal weapons.’

The first incident took place shortly before noon on New Year’s Eve when an 18-year-old man was stabbed in Enfield, north-east London. Five men were being questioned by police last night.

The second victim, a 20-year-old, died around 7.30pm when he was stabbed in West Ham, East London. The third attack took place among crowds of revellers shortly before 11pm in Tulse Hill, south London. Police believe the 17-year-old victim was chased off a bus after a row before being fatally stabbed.

The final attack took place in the early hours of yesterday in a side street in fashionable Clerkenwell in central London, where a 20-year-old died at the scene. Record call-outs

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