East London stabbing: boy, 15, arrested on suspicion of murder

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/oct/11/teenage-boy-arrested-stabbing-murder-baptista-adjei-knife-stratford-east-london

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A 15-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of stabbing a schoolboy to death outside a shopping centre in broad daylight, the Metropolitan police have said.

Police said that the teenager handed himself in to an east London police station on Friday, and was arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody.

Officers were called to Broadway in Stratford, east London, shortly after 3pm on Thursday following reports of a stabbing.

The 15-year-old, who police named on Friday as Baptista Adjei, from North Woolwich, was attacked on or after getting off a bus which had stopped close to the Stratford shopping centre.

Police and witnesses said the teenager’s friends and passersby rushed to help after he was knifed outside a McDonald’s at the shopping centre. But police and paramedics found him with “critical injuries” and, despite battling to save his life, he was pronounced dead at the scene at 3.49pm.

Baptista’s aunt, Aretha Adjei, told the Evening Standard that her nephew was a “fun-loving boy, very popular with everyone in church”, who would “always make you laugh”.

A second boy, aged 15, was also found with stab injuries and was taken to an east London hospital, where his injuries were said to be not life-threatening.

Five hours later, officers were called to the Brandon Estate in Camberwell, south London, where they found an 18-year-old man with stab wounds who died an hour later.

Police said the teenager had been chased by a group of men who then set upon him on the ground, inflicting fatal injuries.

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said he was “devastated” by the two fatal stabbings and urged witnesses to come forward, saying: “There is no honour in staying silent.”

Khan said: “I am utterly devastated to hear that two teenagers have been killed on our streets: a 15-year-old boy in Stratford and an 18-year-old man in Southwark.

“My thoughts are with both victims’ loved ones at this incredibly difficult time.”

He continued: “Knife crime is stealing the futures of our young people - and it is devastating our communities. It has to stop. That’s why, despite the backdrop of vast government cuts, we’re funding dedicated officers on our streets to tackle violence, as well as focusing on addressing the causes of crime, investing in youth and preventative services.”