Fatal stabbing blamed on one youth

12 April 2012

One youth is believed to be responsible for a double stabbing outside a youth club which left a teenage army cadet dead, police said.

Joseph Lappin, 16, suffered a single stab wound to the left side of his chest which pierced his heart.

The youngster was attacked by a gang of up to 15 youths outside the Shrewsbury House Youth Club in Everton, Liverpool, on Monday night.

He and two friends were standing outside the youth club at around 8.40pm when they were approached by a gang of 10 to 15 youths, aged between 14 and 20, who began abusing them.

After a short chase, they tried to make their way back into the safety of the youth club but Joseph and one of his friends were stabbed on the steps of the entrance. They managed to get inside the club and both were treated by staff but it was too late for Joseph.

Police said his friend suffered two stab wounds and was "incredibly lucky" to have survived. The third friend, also 17, suffered minor assault injuries.

Two youths who were arrested on suspicion of murder close to the scene on Monday night have been bailed pending further inquiries.

Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Steve Naylor said: "We know that two people played a key role in the attack on Joseph and his friends.

"One of those two was the person responsible for both stabbings. Joseph suffered a single stab wound and his friend suffered two stab wounds. He is incredibly lucky to have survived and is now at home."

Mr Naylor said officers have confirmed that the weapon used was a knife. The weapon has not been recovered and police have sealed off a park close to the youth club for a fingertip search.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in