21 November 2009

Murder inquiry launched after teenager found fatally stabbed in street

Murder inquiry launched after teenager found fatally stabbed in street

Police say 19-year-old involved in altercation in north London before incident

Detectives launched a murder inquiry today after a teenager was found fatally stabbed in a north London street.

Passersby found the 19-year-old, who has not been named, collapsed in Stoke Newington late yesterday and called the emergency services. Paramedics arrived shortly before 11pm and he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said the incident followed an altercation between the teenager and two male suspects. They are looking for a silver vehicle that left the scene shortly afterwards and turned into Church Street. A spokesman said investigators from the homicide and serious crime command would lead the inquiry.

He is the 12th teenager to be murdered in the capital this year and the ninth to be stabbed to death – two died in arson attacks and one in a fatal shooting.

Official figures show that the numbers of young people killed and seriously injured by knives have fallen dramatically this year since the Metropolitan police increased stop and search operations to identify those carrying knives. There were 28 youth murders in January to October last year, compared with 11 during 2009.The number of youths aged between 10 and 17 searched by police rose from 123,819 in 2007/8, to 185,489 in the 12 months to March 2009.

The last teenager to be murdered this year was rapper Carl Beatson Asiedu, 19, of Norbury, south London, who was fatally stabbed after playing a gig at Club Life in Kennington in August.

Since June, at least one teenager a month has been murdered. The stabbing victims this year include: Jahmal Mason-Blair, 17, who died in May in Hackney, east London, Adam Pervaiz, 18, who died the same month in Deptford, south-east London, Shay Ogunyemi, 16, died near Larkhall Park, Lambeth. Two brothers were later charged with murder.

Wahab Zaaki, 18, of Old Church Road, Chingford, died in March after he was stabbed in the chest in Shernhall Street, Walthamstow, east London, Simon Wright, 17, of Leyton, east London, was fatally stabbed in Leytonstone Road, opposite Maryland railway station, Kul Hawadleh, 19, of north-west London, was stabbed to death in Wealdstone in February, while Steven Lewis, 15, died after a street fight in Newham, east London in January. Three youths, two aged 16 and one aged 17, have been charged with his murder.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/nov/20/teenager-fatally-stabbed-street

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