A teenage boy was stabbed to death in east London today, the latest in a spate of violent deaths in the capital that have made tackling knife crime a police priority.
Officers on routine patrol found the victim, believed to be aged 17, with a stab injury to his neck on Amhurst Road in Hackney shortly before 1am, Scotland Yard said.
An air ambulance doctor pronounced the boy dead at the scene and police appealed for witnesses to come forward.
"In particular we would like to hear from anyone who may have seen a black male aged between 14 and 18 wearing dark clothing running away," said Detective Chief Inspector Phil Rickells.
The boy was the ninth teenager murdered in London this year, although police say they are making progress in reducing knife crime.
Scotland Yard said this week that serious knife injuries to teenagers had fallen by a third over the past 12 months following a crackdown launched following the election of Boris Johnson as mayor of London in May last year.
Under the force's Operation Blunt 2 officers have arrested 10,000 people and seized more than 5,000 knives.
Last year 29 London teenagers were murdered of whom 22 had been stabbed.
Reuters