02 October 2023 , 14:13
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A 16-year-old boy has become the latest victim of the knife crime epidemic after he was stabbed to death last night.
Police were called at 11.27am on Sunday to an attack in Kendal Gardens, Edmonton, North London. He has been named locally as Taye Faik. Officers attended along with paramedics but tragically the boy was pronounced dead at the scene. He is the 17th teenager to be killed in London since the start of 2023 - 13 of whom were stabbed. It comes after Elianne Andam, 15, was stabbed to death in Croydon, outside a bus on her way to school last week.
The boy's family have been informed and they will be supported by specialist officers. No arrests have been made. A post-mortem examination and formal identification will take place in due course. The crime scene remains cordoned off as detectives, local police officers and forensic specialists begin their painstaking work at the scene.
Det Chief Supt Caroline Haines, the senior officer responsible for the Met’s North Area, said: “I thank local people for their patience as police have worked through the night. They will continue to see a police presence and ongoing activity in their neighbourhood in the coming days, and I encourage people in the community to speak with those officers if they have any information or concerns that they wish to share.
People lay flowers near a cordon in Edmonton (Marcin Nowak/LNP)"My thoughts and most sincere sympathies are with the family and friends of the victim. The family will be supported by dedicated police officers throughout the unimaginably difficult days and months ahead. We will be there for them, and I can assure them that skilled and tenacious detectives will be working to bring to justice whoever was responsible for this terrible crime.”
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Witnesses described how a convoy of police cars raced into the quiet residential street after the fatal stabbing. One told the Evening Standard: “It was bedlam, nine police cars raced into the cul-de-sac where the boy was on the ground, it was outside a house. There was panic and shouting, we are all really shaken up. I have a grandson around that age who lives nearby it makes you think the worst.”
Another resident said: “The bit was near a driveway in the cul-de-sac. I was only visiting the area as I moved out because of the violence around here. Still, it’s a total shock that someone so young is dead. My prayers are with his family.”
Kate Osamor, Labour MP for Edmonton, said: "My thoughts go out to the family of the 16 year old boy fatally stabbed in Edmonton last night. This is an unspeakably senseless tragedy."
The latest blade death comes after four knife murders since Friday and the fatal stabbing of Elianne last Wednesday. Two men, aged 53 and 65, were found dead at 11am on Saturday in Harehills, Leeds. At around the same time a 19-year-old man was fatally stabbed in Slough, Berkshire.
Christina Howell, 36, has been charged after a man in his 60s, who has not been named, was stabbed to death in St Paul's, Bristol, on Friday afternoon. Police are treating the attack as a race-hate crime.
A total of 14 teenagers were murdered in the capital in 2022. A post-war record of 30 teenagers were murdered in the capital in 2021.
Anyone with information about the Kendal Gardens stabbing can contact police on 101 quoting the reference 7767/01oct, or to remain anonymous contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or online.