Family condemn knife crimewave

The family of a law student murdered as he walked home from a football match have said blame for his death must be shouldered by the enforcers of knife laws as well as his killers.

Sami Sidhom, 18, was yards from his front door in Forest Gate, east London, when he was set upon by a number of attackers and stabbed multiple times.

The teenager, who was described as a “model son”, died at the scene. A 22-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder yesterday and is being questioned by police.

Mr Sidhom’s family said he was “stabbed in the back by cowards in the dark”. Branding it “shameful” that knives are carried on Britain’s streets, they asked how many more communities had to be “terrorised by mindless stabbings” before the issue is properly confronted.

“We’ve somehow ended up in a society where our brightest hopes are taken before they’ve even started,” they said.

“It is shameful that a single knife is allowed on the street. There isn’t a single fathomable reason why this is still tolerated. Those responsible for enforcing the banning of knives in our streets are also responsible.”

The killing came amid fears over a surge of violence sweeping the capital. Since the start of the year the Met have launched more than 60 murder investigations, the latest after a man was stabbed to death in Finsbury Park on Saturday.

West Ham fan Mr Sidhom had been to watch them play Stoke City on the night he was attacked,

Sami Sidhom