LONDON (Reuters) – A 13-year-old boy was arrested yesterday in connection with the murder of a teenager in east London, Scotland Yard said.
Officers found the victim, named locally as 17-year-old Jahmal Mason-Blair, with a stab injury to his neck on Amhurst Road in Hackney shortly before 1 am.
An air ambulance doctor pronounced the boy dead at the scene.
Mason-Blair was a talented footballer who had no involvement with gangs, his elder brother Shaun told Sky News.
“He didn’t have a bad bone in his body … everyone is just shocked,” he said.
Friend Connie Drew told BBC TV he was a “lovely young boy … he lived for football”.
More than 900 people had signed up to a Facebook tribute website by late last evening.
“Jahmal was a great son, great brother & a great friend & he will be dearly Missed,” a message on the site read.
“Knowing that were not going to see u play football, Or see that smile again. It will truly hurt us.”
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 murder was the ninth of a teenager in the capital 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.
