London’s teenage murder toll hits shameful record high as boy, 16, is stabbed to death in Hillingdon

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London’s teenage murder toll has hit a record high of 30 killings in a single year after two boys, aged 15 and 16, were killed within minutes of each other last night. 

The brutal new high of deaths will inevitably heap more pressure on Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has today claimed knife crime in London has gone down, to seize control of the gang and stabbing epidemic sweeping the capital’s streets. 

And anti-knife crime campaigners warned today not enough was being doing to tackle the problem as they criticised what they called London’s ‘scattergun’ approach.

Police were called at 7.34pm yesterday to reports of an injured male at the Philpotts Farm Open Space close to Heather Lane in Yiewsley, Hillingdon, west London.

Officers attended and found the 16-year-old boy suffering from a stab wound. Despite the efforts of paramedics, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 8.25pm.  

And shortly after 7pm a 15-year-old boy who has not yet been formally identified was stabbed to death during an assault in Ashburton Park in Croydon. 

Police officers gave first aid to the boy before the ambulance service arrived but he was pronounced dead at 7.36pm. 

No arrests have been made and a crime scene remains in place as enquiries continue.

The reasons behind the boys’ stabbings are as yet unclear but their deaths took the number of teenagers murdered in the capital this year to 30. The previous highest toll was 29 in 2008.  

Patrick Green, CEO of the Ben Kinsella Trust which campaigns against knife crime, told MailOnline he wasn’t surprised by the record high because ‘we’ve been heading this way for quite some time’. 

He said: ‘I can’t say to you that next year will be any different it will most likely worse.

‘Knife crime is accepted by this generation as part-and-parcel of growing up and that’s completely unacceptable.

‘It shows that not enough has been done and if I’m being really critical then I’d say the approach to tackling it has been scattergun.

‘We have to sustain our response to knife crime, it has to be over the long term and not just one- and two-year funding for projects.

‘It is a societal problem which will continue unless it is addressed properly.’

The charity was founded in 2008 – the same year teenage homicides in London hit a then-record high – following the death of Ben Kinsella, who was just 16 when he was stabbed to death in Islington, north London.

Mr Green also echoed commander Alex Murray’s plea for parents to talk with their children to address the issue of knife crime. 

He added that because one on one support was removed from vulnerable youths due to coronavirus lockdowns, children were much more susceptible to being recruited by gangs.    

Mr Green said that in February last year many anti-knife campaign groups and the children’s commissioner highlighted concerns they had over the detriment lockdowns would have on vulnerable children and ‘sadly those fears have been realised’. 

He said: ‘Thirteen years ago as a charity we set out to do all we could to stop this happening to another family but we are now back in a worse place.’ 

Mr Green added that the organisation would be responding to the rocketing levels of knife crime by taking advantage of Sadiq Khan’s new London Crime Prevention Fund. 

And he also highlighted the detrimental effect social media has on teenagers. He said: ‘We need to recognise the role that social media plays, and companies should be stepping up to prevent children from becoming desensitised to violence. 

‘There needs to be far more done about this, not just an Online Harms Bill.’   

Anthony King, a community activist in Croydon, said: ‘It’s just heartbreaking. It’s just not right. It’s 10 steps forward, 11 steps back.

‘I’ve made efforts to contact the family. At the moment they are going through a huge tragedy. They’re going through grief, they’re going through tears.

‘My message is to Croydon, please work with the Met Police. I speak primarily yes to the black community.

‘I know trust issues have been a major thing over the years. But we need to partner with Met Police and work hard and tirelessly to eradicate this diabolical issue.

‘I also ask for all parents, carers, foster carers, social care workers, if you suspect a knife is missing from the home please search the child. Let an agency know. Try and get help. There are people out there that can help.

‘There are young people out there that feel the need to protect themselves and this is a message to every child – please you need to understand the pain of parents and siblings who have lost a child.’

Beryl St James, a street pastor who works with the local community, said: ‘I think people fail to recognise the ripple effect of this.

‘It may look like it was one child, but the effects will have a massive impact.

‘That family will grieve, the devastation, the heartache. It might be your cousin, your loved one, your friend. There are people like me who counsel family, who work with the police, but there are other families that will sit there and grieve.

‘It’s not just the death of one, it affects so many people.’

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said he was devastated following the deaths of the two teenagers but claimed that knife crime had gone down in the capital.   

He said: ‘I am truly devastated by the deaths of a 15-year-old boy in Croydon and a 16-year-old boy in Hillingdon.

‘Senseless violence has once again resulted in the loss of two young men with their lives in front of them and my thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families, friends and communities at this awful time.

‘I continue to remain in close contact with the Met Police who are doing everything possible to bring those responsible for these killings to justice. Anyone with information should contact the police or Crimestoppers anonymously. There is absolutely no honour in staying silent.’

He added: ‘The safety of Londoners will always be my number one priority.

‘That is why I’m determined to continue leading from the front by being tough on crime – investing record amounts in policing to put more officers on the streets – and tough on its complex causes, with plans in place to deliver positive opportunities to almost 100,000 young Londoners over the course of the next year, helping to divert them away from violence by providing them with tailored support at key moments in their lives.

‘Since before the pandemic, the level of knife crime and youth violence in London has been decreasing meaning fewer violent attacks, fewer victims in hospital and fewer young offenders.

‘Sadly, due to the increasing ferocity of the attacks, this hasn’t yet translated to fewer teenage homicides.

‘I refuse to accept that the loss of young lives is inevitable and will continue to be relentless in taking the bold action needed to put an end to violence in our city.’ 

A total of 132 teenagers have been murdered in the capital since Khan became Mayor in May 2016. 

His comments come as it was revealed that gang members circled the park where a 15-year-boy was fatally stabbed to make sure he was dead, according to horrified eyewitnesses.

The young boy was believed to be with a friend when several other youths targeted him in the park in Croydon local residents claimed. 

Kristina Ray, 38, a mum of four who lives near the park, said: ‘I think I saw five or six boys.

‘I couldn’t hear from the house what they were saying. I saw a white Mercedes that kept circling the scene.

‘My gut feeling is that it was a big gang member that wanted to make sure this kid was dead.

‘He had a loud engine, a modified engine, and you could hear him as he was going past. It came around, it stopped by the park, and then you could hear it. The boy was dead and lying on the ground.

‘After that, there was a few boys that ran from the park. Some got picked up by the white Mercedes on one side, some on the other side, and some boy standing just there.

‘I don’t know if he was friends or family, and he was just screaming for help. The police arrived and they tried to revive the boy on the ground.

‘There were 17 police cars, an air ambulance, but they were too late and the boy was dead. There were so many cars, but I saw a car come out and this white lady just collapsed. I guess it was the boy’s mother. She was on the floor just sobbing.

‘I’m so sorry for the family. I’ve got four kids – they’re not leaving the house. It’s awful.

‘I’ve had to lie to my kids. I’ve got three small children. I said the boy was poorly with an allergy. It’s awful, just awful. You don’t expect it on your doorstep. It’s the worst nightmare I just want to buy another house.

‘It’s always, always been safe apart from this.’

Sarah Jones, Labour MP for Croydon Central, attended the murdered scene and spoke to community members outside the cordoned park.

She said: ‘We’ve seen knife crime go up across the whole country and we’ve now got this trend of young, horrific murders. I think it is a wake-up call.

‘Of course we need support for our police officers, but what we’ve been saying for years is that you can reduce violence is if you invest in young services, trying to keep them in schools, support for special needs and mental health.

‘We know that it works and we want that across the whole country not just London.

‘In Croydon, it feels like we have a real problem with knife crime. If you look at the numbers across the capital and across the country, actually everywhere does have a problem with knife crime.

‘We don’t know the details of this case so we can’t deal with conclusions about what happened to this por young lad.

‘When you’ve got children making choices that are so dangerous you have to look at the causes, education, look at health, you have to look at the entire support system and the 11 years of cuts to policing and 11 years of cuts to support services.

‘We’re just all praying for them. This is the kind of year when you spend time with your family, when you’re with your loved ones, when you’re hopefully relaxing in between Christmas and New Year and looking forward to the NEw Year ahead.

‘But there is now a family that has lost their baby and I’m absolutely devastated for them. The community is sending love today but nothing can make it better for them.’  

Speaking outside Ashburton Park where the 15-year-old boy was killed, Met Police Commander Alex Murray said ‘everybody has a role to play’ in reducing knife crime among teenagers.

He said: ‘I can’t imagine the pain the families and loved ones of the two who have died last night are feeling right now. It must be incredibly hard.

‘I know the thoughts of all the people I work within the Met are with the mums, dads, brothers and sisters of the young people who died last night.

‘I do want to reassure you and say tackling violence, youth violence, is our number one priority in London right from dealing with county lines to taking money and drugs and guns off the streets through to being in the right spot and the right time.

‘There are hundreds of police officers working in schools trying really hard to tackle violence at its root cause.

‘As a result of that effort and with partners and with community groups, we’ve seen a significant reduction in violence but not for teenagers.

‘With teenagers, we’ve had a rise in homicides. My message today other than to speak to the families and friends of those that Londoners lost is that you cannot carry knives in London.

‘This is what happens when knives are carried and we all have a role in relation to tackling knife crime. Anybody can ring Crimestoppers, an independent charity, and call and say this person is carrying a knife and action will be taken.

‘We take 400 knifes a month of the streets from young people who are carrying knives.

‘Everyone has a role to play here and I just encourage anybody who knows if someone is carrying a knife to tell them not to. We know people get hurt if they carry knives.

‘If you’re fearful, don’t carry a knife. I’d encourage everybody to get involved – you’ve seen how we work with community groups to tackle violence.

‘This is a local problem, a family problem, a local authority problem, a police problem – we’ve all got a role to play to reduce the tragedies taking place.’

He added: ‘The ambition of the commissioner and the Metropolitan Police is unwavering around violence. It will remain the number one focus as well as building trust with communities.

‘Next year we will be focusing our efforts on areas where knife crime is the highest, we will be problem-solving, we will be pushing into schools, we will be taking kinves off the streets but we will be dealing with the drivers of violence as well – drugs, guns, money. ‘ 

It comes as experts have warned that disagreements between teenagers are exacerbated when played out online, and that the amount of violent content has helped normalise aggression.  

And just two days ago London Mayor Sadiq Khan unveiled a package of almost £39million to tackle crime in London. 

The London Crime Prevention fund, which will run over the next three years, will see the money distributed between all 32 boroughs of the capital.  

In April, a source told the Evening Standard that Mr Khan spends too much of his time ‘responding to events and the public mood rather than leading from the front’. 

They added: ‘He has flip-flopped on key policies instead of sticking to his guns.’

In 2018 the mayor backed the Met’s promise of a ‘significant increase’ in the use of stop and search even though he pledged in 2015 to ‘do all in my power to further cut’ the use of the tactic.  

Junior Smart, founder of the St Giles Trust SOS Project that helps divert young people from crime, said technology giants should be asked to invest profits into areas blighted by violence.  

He said: ‘Violence has been normalised, especially over the last 10 years through social media.

‘It’s a crazy situation here where if a person goes to a live event and starts livestreaming music they will be silenced and perhaps have a sanction, whereas someone can be online posting violence and use the p word or the n word or a load of expletives and nothing actually happens.

‘The reality is that social media platforms have got a lot to answer for. In practically every situation where we’ve seen violence happen there has been some sort of connection with an online platform in some form.

‘Why are these social media platforms not being held to account? Why are we so scared of asking really difficult questions and why are these social media platforms not putting more money back in the communities that are being affected by violence?’  

Jon Yates, executive director of the Youth Endowment Fund (YEF), said there are three factors behind the rise in violence: an increase in the number of children who are vulnerable, for example in care or excluded from school; increased pressure on services such as policing, mental health and youth work; and social media fuelling conflict. 

He added: ‘We don’t fully know the impact of social media. But any young people I talk to say that social media and the fact that something they say in passing becomes written down, causes what might have been nothing to become something.’  

‘This is not a one-off, one year problem,’ Mr Yates said. 

‘The actual number of young people who die tends to vary but the number who are being seriously injured has been going up for a number of years, right back from 2013. In many cases the difference between a serious injury and a fatality is millimetres.  

‘If we’re serious about making a difference the solution is obvious. We’ve got to find out what works best, and then we’ve got to execute it.’ 

Domestic abuse has long been recognised as an aggravating factor in young people becoming involved in violence in later life, and new research suggests it may also be linked to extremism or terrorism. Mr Yates said: ‘For most young people in this country violence isn’t at all normal, but there is a proportion whose lives are far too full of violence. 

‘Part of that is social media, but lots of it is their day to day lived experience, of having friends or friends of friends seriously injured. The most important thing we can do, particularly those of us who live relatively safe lives, is get much better informed about what works to make a difference. 

‘We know that for a child to witness domestic abuse is a risk factor, it makes them more likely to become involved in violence. ‘What we don’t know is what’s the best way to address that.’ 

Mr Smart, who was himself jailed for 12 years for a drugs crime and is now a youth work expert studying for a PhD, believes there needs to be a reduction in bureaucracy in agencies that help the young. 

‘I’ve gone into meetings and I’ve spoken to people round the table, great organisation, everybody trying their real hardest.

‘I’ve worked it out and I’ve said how long have you spent with the young person or the client since the last meeting? 

‘And we’ve been in the meeting longer than they’ve spent with the client. How does that make sense?’   

Rishmeet Singh was the 28th teenager killed on the streets of London this year.   

Only a few hours after the young Sikh boy’s death Scotland Yard announced the results of a knife crackdown that saw officers seize nearly 300 blades and arrest close to 1,000 people in a campaign that lasted a week.

His death on Wednesday came just a week after Jermaine Cools, 14, died in an unrelated knife attack in Croydon, south London. 

Rishmeet, who was from an Afghan Sikh family, was said to have worked various jobs to provide for his disabled mother, who lives above a shop close to where he was killed.

His mother was seen crying at the scene after learning her only child had been killed.

The teenager had been seen being pursued by a number of youths before he fell down outside his home on Raleigh Road in Southall, west London.

A shopkeeper from the area told the Evening Standard: ‘I knew him, he was a good guy. His friends are all saying he was stabbed over this Gucci bag, it wasn’t even real. It’s terrible.’

Metropolitan Police officers were called to the road at 9.07pm on Wednesday after reports of a stabbing following a fight involving a group of people.

Officers attended along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and found the 16-year-old with stab wounds.

He died at the scene a short time later, sparking a murder inquiry.  

On October 28 another teenager – Kamran Khalid, 18, was stabbed to death in Harrow Road. 

His mother, Samina Khalid, said he was on his way back from the gym when he was stabbed 24 times near his mother’s house. 

Hazrat Wali, 18, of Notting Hill, was attacked by up to eight males at around 4.45pm on October 12 on the playing fields in Craneford Way near Richmond upon Thames College, Twickenham, where he studied construction and building.

On September 1 Alex Ajanaku, 18, was shot dead as he sat with friends on a bench on Beaumont Road in Leyton, east London, at 1.30am.   

The Met Police said that he was shot after most people had left an illegal rave.

Police arrested a 43-year-old on suspicion of murder the next day in connection to the killing.

Stelios Averkiou, 16, was stabbed at a skate park in Lordship Recreation Ground, Tottenham, north London, at around 2.15pm. He died nine days later. 

Damarie Omare Roye, 16, was stabbed in Bensham Manor Road, Thornton Heath, south London. He was taken to hospital but died two days later. Byron Whyne, 19, has been charged with his murder. 

On July 5, Keane Flynn-Harling, 16, from Lambeth, south London, was stabbed in Oval Place, south London, at around 11.45pm. 

Camron Smith, 16, was stabbed in Bracken Avenue, Shrublands, Croydon, south London, at around 12.45am. He was pronounced dead at the scene. 

On June 25, Tashawn Watt, 19, was stabbed in Miall Walk, Sydenham, south-east London, just after 9.30pm. He was treated by an ambulance crew but died at the scene. 

Jalan Woods-Bell, 15, was stabbed in a fight at around 8.30am on June 11  during the school run in Blyth Road, Hayes, west London. 

On June 10 Denardo Samuels-Brooks, 17, was stabbed in Prentis Road, Streatham, south London, at around 4.15pm. He was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead less than an hour later. 

Taylor Cox, 19, was shot in Hornsey Rise Gardens, Islington, north London, at around 4.25pm on June 8. 

Daniel Laskos, 16, was stabbed in Church Road, Harold Wood, east London, just after 6.40pm, on May 7 during a fight. Ambulance and air ambulance teams tried to save him but he died at the scene. 

On April 26 Abubakkar ‘Junior’ Jah, 18, was found in Coolfin Road, Newham, east London, at around 3.45pm having been shot and stabbed. He died at the scene. 

On April 23 Fares Maatou, 14, was stabbed in Barking Road, Newham, east London, just before 4pm. Emergency services tried to save him but he was pronounced dead just over half an hour later.  

Levi Ernest-Morrison, 17, was stabbed in Sydenham Road, Sydenham, south-east London at around 7.20pm, on April 10. 

Hussain Chaudhry, 18, was stabbed in Lea Bridge Road, Walthamstow, east London, at around 5.20pm on March 17. Police and an ambulance crew attended but he was pronounced dead at the scene. 

On March 8 Nikolay Vandev, 19, was stabbed along with a second victim, aged 18, in Penshurst Road, Tottenham, north London, shortly before 2pm. Mr Vandev was pronounced dead at the scene, while the 18-year-old was taken to hospital and treated for non-life-threatening stab wounds. 

Ezra Okobia, 14, was fatally injured by fumes from a fire at his home in Russett Way, Lewisham, south-east London, shortly before 6am on March 6. He was taken to hospital but died four days later. His five-year-old brother Joseph Okobia and mother Victoria Amaning, 34, also died after inhaling fumes. Police believe Ms Amaning started the blaze. 

Tai Jordan O’Donnell, 19, from Croydon, south London, was stabbed a number of times in the legs at a house in Alpha Road just after 12.10pm on March 3. He was pronounced dead within minutes of emergency crews arriving at the scene. 

On February 26 Ahmed Beker, 19, was stabbed in Paddington Green, west London, just after 9.10pm. He was treated by paramedics and an air ambulance team but died at the scene. 

Drekwon Patterson, 16, from Wembley, north-west London, was stabbed in Preston Road, Brent, shortly after 11.30pm on February 18. He was taken to hospital but died the following morning. 

Hani Solomon, 18, from Wandsworth in south London, was killed during a fight between two groups of men shortly after 6.30pm on February 11 in Ackmar Road, Fulham, west London. He was treated by police, paramedics and an air ambulance team but was pronounced dead at the scene less than an hour later. 

On January 25 Romario Opia, 15, was found stabbed in Holland Walk, Islington, north London, at around 5.30pm. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short while later. 

Anas Mezenner, 17, was found with stab wounds in West Green Road, Haringey, north London, shortly after 9pm on January 19. He was taken to hospital but died at 4.25am. The teenager had reportedly made an anti-knife crime video for a media studies course weeks before he died.