Teenager stabbed to death in Blackheath, south London

The Metropolitan police have launched a murder investigation after a teenager was stabbed and killed in south-east London.

Police and paramedics were called to Hervey Road, Blackheath, at about 8.10pm on Wednesday, where they found 19-year-old Jordan Wright with stab wounds. He was treated at the scene before being taken to hospital, where he died.

“We sent a paramedic in a car, an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and an advanced paramedic to the scene,” a London ambulance service spokeswoman said. “We were at the scene with the patient for approximately 15 minutes and treatment would have continued en route.”

Did you get that? A paramedic in a car (they also have them on bikes by the way, sometimes these stabbings take place on housing estates & some of them are vast), an ambulance crew AND an advanced paramedic, how many ambulance staff out of the loop for one stabbing is that? Then of course we have a number of police at the scene in an area that is becoming notorious for displays of excessive violence.

Detectives from the Met’s homicide and major crime command are investigating and have appealed for witnesses. If this is gang violence that means copious hours spent investigating, only to hit a brick wall because of an absence of witnesses (they'll already have plenty of forensics).

DCI Diane Tudway said: “I believe Jordan was part of a group of young men who had entered the park together before he was stabbed. Those other young men will know who they are, and I urge each of them to call police or Crimestoppers and simply describe what they saw.” 

The latest death brings the number of children and teenagers killed by knives across the UK this year to 13, according to the Guardian’s tally. It comes after Cressida Dick, the new Met commissioner, said on Tuesday that tackling knife and gun crime would mark out her commissionership. Brave lady because this is only spring & the SUMMER of austerity (with all it's attendant frustrations & struggles) is coming!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTI_rzYBBsu/?taken-by=akuamensah68

Victim named following Plumstead murder

Formal identification has yet to take place but officers are satisfied the victim was Rene Richardson, 24, from SE18.

Police continue to appeal for information and witnesses to come forward. 

Police were called at around 16:30hrs on Monday, 10 April to reports of a man stabbed in Bournewood Road, SE18.

Officers, London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance attended and found the man, aged 24, suffering stab wounds. 

He was pronounced dead at the scene. His next-of-kin have been informed and formal identification will take place in due course.

A post-mortem examination is taking place today, Wednesday 12 April, at Greenwich Mortuary.

Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command (HMCC) are investigating.

At this early stage it is believed the victim was approached by two males in Grasdene Road, Plumstead, before he was attacked.

The victim then made his way to Bournewood Road where he collapsed and an ambulance was called.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, 11 April a 23-year-old man was arrested at an address in Bognor Regis, Sussex on suspicion of murder. He remains in custody at a south London police station.

Detectives are still trying to trace a second man, described as a black man, wearing a white t-shirt who was seen to leave the scene of the attack in a BMW sports car. 

Detective Inspector Will Reynolds, of the HMCC, said: "Whilst an arrest has been made I would urge anyone with information or witnesses to this incident to speak to us as soon as possible.

"I am particularly keen for the man seen leaving the scene in the BMW vehicle to come forward and make himself known to us. We believe he may hold vital information." 

Mile End stabbing: Third young man knifed to death in London in space of 24 hours

A young man has been knifed to death in the third fatal stabbing in London in just 24 hours.

Police say a 20-year-old was stabbed in Wager Street, Mile End, at around 4.45pm on Tuesday.

He was rushed to hospital by paramedics but died around an hour later from his injuries.

Witnesses said the victim had been stabbed near his home and collapsed in the street.

Family members and neighbours ran out to help the young man as he lay in the road, it is claimed.

One witness told the Standard people were desperately trying to give the victim mouth-to-mouth in a bid to save his life before emergency services arrived on the scene.

He said: "Many people were trying to help, shouting and crying."

Another neighbour said: "All we heard was a lot of screaming and then a car sped off with tyres screeching."

Footage published on social media showed a group of residents and distressed family members desperately trying to help the stricken man as he lay on the ground beside a car.

Detectives believe the man was with friends in Wager Street before he was approached by a group of men and stabbed.

Police have arrested an 18-year-old man on suspicion of murder. He is currently being quizzed by detectives at an east London police station.

Detective Chief Inspector Tony Lynes, from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "We are keen to speak to anyone who was in the area at that time and might have seen what happened or who has any information about the circumstances."

Young father shot dead at music studio was turning his life around

A YOUNG father shot dead by a gunman in Archway on Saturday was trying to turn his life around after converting to Islam in prison, it has been revealed.

David Robinson, 25, also known as Dawood, was shot numerous times, including in the head, in what police have described as a “cold-blooded” attack at a music studio in Sunnyside Road. 

Police believe an altercation that began inside the relatively unknown Big House 101 music studio just before 9pm resulted in the father-of-one being shot at point-blank range.

“This was a cold-blooded, very calculated and targeted attack,” said Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who is leading a 25-strong murder squad from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command. “Somebody has targeted him for a specific reason.”

Witnesses described paramedics battling to save Mr Robinson’s life. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, but was pronounced dead just after midnight. 

Mr Robinson, who lived with his mother and brother in Barnsbury, grew up in the borough and was a former pupil of Islington Arts and Media School. He has a young daughter with an ex-girlfriend who lives in Leicester.

Flowers were left at the scene of the murder this week as friends took to social media to express their grief. Jordan Buitrago wrote: “RIP Brother Dawood AKA Monkey, can honestly say he was one of the nicest brothers I ever met and he always took time to help you if you was in need Mashallah. May Allah Reward him.”

Another woman said: “Omg can’t believe what I just heard RIP Monkey another life gone and taken too young.”

The Tribune understands Mr Robinson was linked to gangs in his late teens and had a number of convictions for violence, drugs and knife possession. He was jailed for 18 months and given an anti-social behaviour order for his part in a street brawl in 2011.

However, he converted to Islam while in prison and had been trying to break away from his criminal past following his release, finding a new, positive direction in religion and spoken word poetry.

He frequented the studio – based at the former shop of a petrol station, part of which is now occupied by a car wash – to record “nasheed” music. Lyrics of the chanting music, either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments, usually make reference to Islamic beliefs, history and current events.

A man in his 20s who works close to the scene of the murder said this week: “What people are saying is that he came from prison, where he became a Muslim and changed his name to Dawood.

“On the night apparently there were a lot of boys on a nearby estate drinking and getting high in the garden bit of the estate while he was doing his music. They must have known he was here and they moved here. One of them had a gun and just used it. There were a lot of boys.

“Apparently he was saying: ‘Stop! I’m not getting involved in this kind of stuff anymore.’ Then they shot him three times.”

The man added: “I’m thinking because of his past maybe someone wanted to take revenge. Even though suddenly now he’s a changed man.”   

Police believe that on the night he was killed Mr Robinson had gone to the studio to meet someone. 

Detectives said they are pursuing “all lines of inquiry” in the search for a motive. They are not sure whether the shooting was the result of an argument that got out of hand or the tragic consequence of a long-standing grudge between victim and killer. 

“We believe he [Mr Robinson] went to the studio to meet someone,” DCI Whellams added. “We believe David was involved in an altercation that began inside the music studio. That altercation resulted in him being shot.

“We know there were people in the area at the time, both inside and outside the venue, and would like to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious or who has any information about what happened.

“If someone has seen something, even if they think it’s not important, we would like them to come forward and they can speak to us in confidence.”

The Big House studio, which opened in February of last year, remained closed this week as police guarded the scene. The building had previously been a pottery shop.