Bloodiest year on cards as boy is found knifed to death
London set to exceed death toll of 2017 whose figures include the capital’s string of terrorist attacks
A 15-YEAR-OLD schoolboy stabbed to death during a fight at a birthday party in East London has brought to nearly 80 the number of murders in the capital this year. Police called to a community centre in Romford just after 9pm on Saturday found youths fighting and damaging surrounding property.
As they intervened, they found a teenager on the ground with knife wounds. Paramedics and police fought to save his life, but he was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
There are fears that 2018 could become London’s bloodiest since 2005 when 181 murders were recorded. The fatality rate appears on course to exceed last year’s 130 killings that include acts of terrorism. Scotland Yard said three teenagers had been arrested on suspicion of murder and were being questioned at separate police stations.
Locals said trouble started when uninvited guests tried to gain entry to a birthday party in Clockhouse Lane, Romford. A woman close to the community centre described scenes of chaos in the streets as youths fought. She said: “I heard a lot of noise. Then I heard a lad crying down the phone, ‘he’s dead, he’s dead’.
“He was lying in the road and there was a lot of blood. The police working on him tried their damnedest. Nobody should die like that.”
A teenage witness said she could hear friends of the victim screaming and crying. She said: “There were two or three boys screaming, ‘he’s not moving, he’s dead’. There were paramedics doing CPR on him for quite a while. After, he was lying with a white sheet over him. It was covered in blood.”
Violence also flared after youths punched and kicked their way on to a bus. Laila Ceksdere, 25, a witness, said: “They were arguing and then got on the bus. It was crazy. The young people were attacking nearly everyone.
“The bus was full and the driver shut the door and they just started punching the doors. It was terrible.” The Met said a bus driver was treated for a head injury at the scene. Det Sgt Gurj Singh said: “Tragically a teenager has been found with fatal injuries.”
After visiting the area, local MP Andrew Rosindell said it was “devastating” that a young life had “so tragically been cut short on our streets”.
Sadiq Khan, London’s Mayor, vowed: “Anyone involved in this tragic incident will swiftly face the full force of the law. If you have any information please report this to the police. There is no honour in remaining silent.”