A boy aged 17 became the latest victim of London’s knife crime “epidemic” after being fatally stabbed near a shopping centre.
The teenager was attacked in Croydon at around 7pm yesterday after witnesses said a fight spilled out into a pedestrianised shopping street.
Police were called to North End, next to the Whitgift shopping centre, where they found a boy with serious stab wounds.
Officers desperately tried to save the boy by giving first aid, but he died before paramedics could arrive.
Witnesses said his devastated parents rushed to the spot to find their son lying dead in the street.
The boy, who has not yet been named, is the 21st teenager killed on the capital’s streets this year. Fifteen were stabbed to death.
Sarah Jones, MP for Croydon Central, called on Home Secretary Amber Rudd to tackle urgently London’s growing problem.
She said: “I am praying for a life lost, a family devastated, and a community in shock. Time and time again we’ve said ‘enough is enough’ as knife crime has doubled in a year. Well over 1,000 young people were stabbed in London last year.
“Now, we demand action, not words. I’ve been pushing the Home Secretary to prioritise this epidemic amongst our young. It can’t be fixed with short-term thinking.
“We need a ten-year, cross-government strategy tying together policing and justice with an equally important focus on early stage interventions and community support.”
A 47 per cent rise in stabbings in London has sent knife crime figures soaring nationwide.
Murder squad detectives were today trawling through CCTV footage from a nearby McDonald’s restaurant for clues over the latest killing. Its manager Bukky Akerele said: “The police have asked for our CCTV which may have caught the killing.”
A 17-year-old at the scene told the Standard “a lot of people carry knives” for protection. He added: “You are constantly looking over your shoulder — it’s terrifying. This is what Croydon is now.
“We can’t change this ourselves — we are just kids — we need support from older people. The scary thing is it could’ve been me.”
A Met spokesman said no-one had yet been arrested.
Anyone with information about the killing should call police on 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
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