Ilford stabbing: Death of 19-year-old takes London teen killings toll to 10-year high

WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A 19-year-old man was stabbed to death in east London last night in a killing which took the number of teenage homicides in the capital to a 10-year high.

The victim was found with knife wounds following a brawl outside a tower block in Ilford at 10.20pm. Police and paramedics battled to save him, but he died at the scene in Fullwell Avenue shortly afterwards.

Witnesses raised the alarm after hearing a car explode, in a blast which “rocked” nearby homes and sent a plume of black smoke into the air outside 12-storey Owen Waters House.

Three men, two in balaclavas, were seen running from the burning Audi A3, parked near garages. A fight erupted in the street followed by screams before a second car screeched away.

The killing marks the 122nd homicide investigation launched in the capital this year and brings the total number of teenagers killed to 25, surpassing 2018’s grim toll of 24. A record 28 youngsters were murdered in 2008.

Police at the scene of the killing in east London (Evening Standard )
Evening Standard

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday pledged a blitz on knife crime amid mounting concern over London’s violence epidemic, with stronger stop and search powers and quicker justice for known carriers of weapons.

This morning, a white police tent was erected next to bike sheds at an entrance to the tower block. The charred remains of the car in last night’s incident were behind police tape as forensic teams trawled for clues.

A resident said: “There was shouting and commotion. There were two cars, one exploded. The flames were going high into the air. Three people seemed to be running from the burning car. The other car screeched off.

“I think the boy was stabbed and then managed to get to the block of flats across the road. There were plumes of black smoke going into the sky, I thought my house was going to catch alight.” Neighbour Ciprian Chirica, 46, said: “My son is 13, I fear for him being brought up around here.”

A mother-of-four told how paramedics and police gave the stabbed teenager CPR for more than 10 minutes.

She said: “There was blood everywhere, it was terrible. When they lost the battle to save him they bowed their heads. It was a heartbreaking scene.”

Scotland Yard said inquiries are on-going to inform the latest victim’s next of kin, and there have been no arrests.

A Section 60 order giving police extra stop and search powers was in place across the Redbridge borough until 6.30am today, and officers are still working to establish if the stabbing and the exploding car were linked.

Anyone with information should call the 101 line (ref CAD 9907/19 Nov).

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