“I was in labour for 23 hours with him, yet it took less than four minutes to stab him to death,”

The mother of a teenager stabbed to death by a 15-year-old boy has called on the Government to tackle the “knife crime that seems to have taken over the streets of London”.

Yinka Bankole issued the emotional plea after her son’s killer was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey.  

Fola Orebiyi, 17, died after being knifed in the neck in Notting Hill last July. He had been out with a friend in Colville Square when the pair were approached by a group of boys who began abusing them.

A fight broke out during which a 15-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, jumped on Fola and fatally stabbed him.

His killer was convicted yesterday and will be sentenced next month.

In an emotional statement, Ms Bankole said her son’s death — and a spate of other knife killings in London, including the stabbing of  15-year-old Quamari Barnes outside the gates of Capital City Academy in Willesden — should prompt government action. 

Ms Bankole said her son had been “a vibrant and intelligent young man, with a bright future ahead of him”  and no gang or criminal background.

She added: “I was in labour for 23 hours with him, yet it took less than four minutes to stab him to death, while several youths stood there and didn’t ask for help or assist him, and Fola he bled to death.

“To me this is the most devastating moment of my life. Knowing that I wasn’t there to protect my son, I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. Yet to the system, just another figure added to the statistics.

“In an act that took less than four minutes, several lives were ruined, including that of the boy who has been found guilty of Fola’s murder.

"No length of time will be long enough for what he did. What are the Government doing about this knife crime that seems to have taken over the streets of London?

(Excerpt:January 2017)

Knife Crime - The Reality

KNIFE crime in England and Wales has leapt by as much as 90% in two years in some areas, according to new police data

In fact, the most common weapon used in a violent crime in England and Wales is not a gun - but a knife.

A TERRIFYING knife crime now takes place on the streets of Britain every EIGHT MINUTES

One in five MUGGERS now threatens victims with knives.

Street ROBBERIES in which a knife was used soared from 25,500 in 2005 to 64,000 in the year to April 2007.

On average a shocking 175 people are robbed at knifepoint every day up from 110 last year and 69 two years ago.

Areas with the biggest rises include Devon and Cornwall, Lincolnshire and Bedfordshire - all of which also saw steep increases in overall violence. The highest rise in knife crime was recorded by Nottinghamshire police. There, offences involving blades went up from 338 in 2002 to 650 last year - a rise of 92%. Last year there were 223 muggings using knives in the county a rise of 43% since 2002.

In Nottinghamshire the force said some criminals may be choosing knives rather than guns because of higher mandatory sentences for possession of firearms. Gun crime in the county has fallen by 30% in the past year.

At present, carrying a knife with a blade longer than 3in can lead to a four-year prison term or a fine. This contrasts with illegal possession of firearms, which carries a jail term of 5-10 years.

Recent studies have shown that there has been an increase in the number of knives being taken to school. According to a study by the Youth Justice Board, 300,000 of the country's 10m pupils regularly carry such weapons in school.

Areas with highest knife crime increases

Nottinghamshire: 2002-338; 2004-650; Rise 92%

Bedfordshire: 2002-79; 2004-113; Rise 43%

Devon & Cornwall: 2002-108; 2004-152; Rise 41%

Lincolnshire : 2002-402; 2004-497; Rise 24%

The Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London recently conducted some deeper analysis of the available Home Office's statistics.

It concluded that between 22,000 and 57,900 young people could have been victims of knife crime in 2004. However, it says without better official data it is impossible to know for sure - and that we need that data to improve the public debate.

Knife violence in Britain is far worse than official statistics suggest, with almost 14,000 people taken to hospital for injuries caused by knives and other sharp weapons.

According to the latest Department of Health statistics, an average of 38 victims of knife wounds are admitted to accident and emergency departments across the country every day.

The latest statistics from hospitals in England alone highlight an 88 per cent jump in the number of children suffering stab wounds - from 95 in 2002-03 to 179 in 2006-07. And among 16- to 18-year-olds, there has been a 75 per cent rise from 429 to 752.

Most were not jailed, with just 14 per cent ending up in prison for little more than three months on average. Suspended sentences leapt from nine in 1997 to 552 in 2006

Dr Tunji Lasoye, A&E consultant at King's College Hospital, London said: "In a nutshell the numbers of stab victims coming into A&E have gone up. It used to be that we would see isolated cases at weekends, but now it is nearly every day of the week. And the age of the victims has gone down. We used to see people in their early 20s; now they are in their mid-teens. And 10 per cent of the victims we see now are girls, which wasn't the case a few years ago."

Stop and search key to London's battle with knife crime menace

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick has told Sky News that stop and search operations could be stepped up in problem areas of the capital after a huge rise in knife crime.

Thirty people have been stabbed to death in London so far in 2017, a rise of almost a third from 23 during the same period in 2016.

In the last four weeks alone, there have been 14 deaths.

A record 300 knives were seized in seven days by officers across the capital.

Scotland Yard has set up a specialist task force to combat the problem, with community leaders claiming some children as young as six are carrying knives.

On a week in which there were three knife killings, Sky News gained exclusive access to the Met's elite gang units, tasked with getting knives and other dangerous weapons off the streets.

Plain-clothed officers in south and west London targeted known gang members and made several knife-related arrests.

Ms Dick said one of her biggest challenges as the UK's most senior officer was tackling knife crime, and indicated the likelihood that stop and search might have to be increased in the worst areas.

She told Sky News: "Stop and search is a very important tactic - it's a very important power for officers and has been hugely powerful in the fight so far against knife crime.

"Thousands and thousands of people have been stopped and successfully searched, where a knife has been recovered.

"So of course I want it to continue and if it increases, because that is the best way that people are finding to reduce knife crime, and to stop young people suffering life-changing injuries, or even being killed, then I will absolutely support it and explain why we've had an increase."

The Commissioner vowed to get to the root of knife crime as she visited a youth centre, where she met the family of 20-year-old Lewis Elwin, who was stabbed to death in Tooting, south London, in 2016.

His killer has not been caught.

His eldest brother, Byron Douglas-Letts, said: "It's frightening knowing someone can commit such an offence, such an act of violence, but yet no one has been caught, and this is just one case - these cases are popping up everywhere now."

(Excerpt from newspaper article)

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. 

How gang terrorised doomed estate

Three members of a gang who terrorised a London housing estate have been given long spells in jail. Their reign ended when one of them fired shots as two policemen chased him.

The case has some echoes in the 2009 film Harry Brown, in which Michael Caine plays a pensioner and ex-soldier who turns vigilante to combat a gang of violent youths terrorising a council estate.

That film was shot on the Heygate estate in Elephant and Castle, south London, not far from where Caine grew up.

A few months before the film came out, in the summer of last year, a real-life gang - led by Callum Hall and Deniz Ozdil - was terrorising the nearby Aylesbury estate.

In one incident Hall, now 21, 18-year-old Anthony Babalola and two other gang members forced their way into a flat in a tower block and threatened a young woman, Karen Sohyly, and her two young children with a gun.

Philip Bennetts, prosecuting, takes up the story: "They demanded to know where her brother Patrick was. Hall showed her bullets in the gun."

At one point Ms Sohyly's 10-year-old daughter told Hall: "Please don't shoot my mum".

Mr Bennetts said: "Hall said he was the one running the estate. He would be running things from now on."

A week later the gang approached a teenager and demanded money from him, waving a hunting knife and a pistol in his face.

Seven days later, on 5 August 2009, Hall - by now wanted for questioning by police - was spotted not far from Waterloo station in central London.

He abandoned a bicycle and ran off, pursued by PC Colin Hutton and PC Vincent Turner.

At one point he turned and fired in the direction of the officers.

Customers enjoying the sunshine outside several restaurants watched the chase and - in a CCTV clip shown to the jury - could be seen reacting in shock to the gunshots.

In court PC Turner described the incident: "His arm was outstretched and I could see the tip of the gun or the barrel of the gun. He was pointing it towards me and he's clicked it.

"He held the gun in his right hand. He fired it and it's made a bang this time. The bang made me duck to the right.

"I believe that if he had hit me it would have hit me directly from the chest outwards - the chest, neck or face."

Hall was acquitted of attempted murder by the Old Bailey jury after he claimed he was not aiming at the officers.

Judge Brian Barker, the Common Serjeant of London, praised PC Hutton and PC Turner: "Their devotion to duty when under fire and afterwards was of the highest order.

"London is fortunate to be protected by officers of that quality and they deserve to be commended."

Hall eventually shook off his pursuers, but was arrested two weeks later, still in possession of the 9mm Baikal pistol fired.

But the reign of terror was not over.

A few days later Babalola visited Ms Sohyly and threatened to shoot her if she gave evidence against Hall.

Babalola said: "You grass and you will all get sprayed."

Changing landscape

But the gang was arrested before members could follow up their threats.

Crucially, eyewitnesses had the courage to testify.

The gang members were sentenced on Friday.

Hall was given an indeterminate sentence for public protection with a minimum term of 13 years.

Ozdil was given 10 years for possession of a firearm with intent to rob.

Babalola was jailed for a total of five-and-a-half years.

Soon the landscape in which the gang operated will change out of all recognition.

The Heygate and Aylesbury housing estates are in the process of being demolished as part of Southwark Council's plan to regenerate the Elephant and Castle area.

Those two projects will cost £3.9bn and involve the construction of hundreds of new homes, shops and open spaces and the rebuilding of several schools.

Jean Bartlett, chair of the Aylesbury Tenants Association, said it was unfair to describe it as a "sink estate" but she conceded there were problems and the blocks needed to come down and be redeveloped.

"It will take about 20 years to complete and cost billions of pounds but it's considered a high priority and hopefully the money can be found for it," she said.