Tony Bennett

I dare say that somebody will query why I have posted this up in the section headed: 'Immigration'.

From today's 'Daily Mail'

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Schoolboy skewered to death by mob 'baying for blood'

Last updated at 16:42pm on 25th June 2007

[PICTURE: Ben Hitchcock: victim of gang attack]

A boy of 16 was killed as a London house party for a 13-year-old girl ended in a mob attack by more than 40 teenagers, it was revealed this afternoon.

Ben Hitchcock was clubbed, hit with stones and kicked and punched. At one point he is said to have been impaled on railings. He managed to free himself during the 10-minute running fight but was knifed in the back and left dying in the road.

One witness said youths went on the rampage when police turned up, spilling out across the road in Beckenham, blocking traffic and swarming through a 24-hour supermarket. The astonishing level of violence terrified residents who said the youths were "baying for blood".

The trouble centred on a party for Tashari Richards at her mother's terrace house nearby on Saturday night. More than 200 people had turned up and police were called to shut it down.

[PICTURE: Ben Hitchcock, pictured bottom left, with his school friends]

Student Ben and five friends had been turned away earlier and it is believed that as they made their way home they ran into members of two south London gangs known as the Penge Boys and Young Thugs.

Sheniz Yersever, a classroom assistant, described seeing about 40 gang members attacking the boy outside her house just before midnight. Mrs Yersever said: "They were wearing hoodies and had blue towels on their heads. They looked quite bizarre, almost like Arabic head-dresses.

[PICTURE: Flowers at the scene of Ben's death]

"I could see them kicking and hitting this poor boy. He was white and they were all black. I saw them stab him but then he managed to get up. These boys were picking up stones from my garden and hurling them at him. They were kicking him and hitting him with clubs. It was absolutely horrifying.

"The boys all ran off towards Lewisham. I ran to where this boy was lying. He was covered in blood. He had been stabbed in the back. There was a girl pressing a rolled up towel on his back. He was not making any response at all."

Minutes earlier the gang had beaten a 15-year-old black boy to the point of unconsciousness, one resident said.

Witnesses said the gang members were furious because they had also been refused entry after trying to gatecrash the party.

They attacked the Ben along nearby Southend Road not far from the party in Worsley Bridge Road.

Some reports said the six friends were ambushed on a bus back to Lewisham, where they had come from, and they were dragged off by the mob.

[PICTURES: Images from YouTube mourning the death of Ben Hitchcock]

Karim Shakur, 16, a friend of Ben, said: "He was just walking home. They were totally outnumbered by a big gang of black boys aged between 14 and 18. These boys were all from Lewisham and had come to Bromley just to pick a fight.

"They chose the spot where they attacked because it lies exactly on the borders of Lewisham and Bromley. They were showing who is boss."

Gang members are said to have worn hooded tops and had blue towels over their heads, to signify they were from Lewisham, known as the "Blue Borough" because of the colour of its council signs.

Police said today fourteen teenagers aged 13 to 16 were arrested following Ben's murder. One was a girl.

Speaking this afternoon at the scene of the murder, Detective Superintendent Simon Morgan said: "Inquiries have established the incident began when approximately six boys were barred from entering a party.

"Police were called and the group outside were asked to leave. Shortly afterwards, the party ended. That group, including the victim, left the party and subsequently got into a full-blown fight with tragic results."

Mr Morgan added: "There is nothing to say it is premeditated, but a group of friends in Lewisham have come to a party and suffered some tragic consequences."

Houses on Southend Road sell for between £550,000 and £700,000. The area is less than one mile from the deprived estates of Catford and Lewisham.

Karim added: "These boys are all influenced by hip-hop music and stories of LA gang violence. It has become a way of life for them."

He said Ben, from nearby Penge, whose street name was Swipe, was just "a normal" boy who was not a member of any gang and was not involved in crime.

Ben's headteacher at Kelsey Park Sports College, Brian Lloyd, said Ben finished his GCSEs a few weeks ago and was looking to go to college, possibly to learn a trade in construction. He said: "It is so sad when you see a young life wasted in such a senseless way."

Some of the youths were arrested at the scene and some later on. They were released on police bail and will reappear at police stations across south-east London on Wednesday.

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kernow

I know I'll probably stand alone with my view, but in my opinion if they "Hung" the lot of them, there would be less likelihood of any other scum gang attempting to attack and murder another innocent!

Populist Lee

Why do you think you'll be standing alone with your view?

You should have more Faith in what other normal people think.

tito

You mean hanged.

kernow

You're probably right! Although it is an expression I use! I would say, "Hung up on a barbed wire fence" :shock: not Hanged up on a barbed wire fence

Independent UKIP

I dare say you are right Tony. I expect you have a fulsome reply so I look forward to reading it.

What has this to do with the immigration topic? I did only skim the article but I did not see any suggestion that the people responsible are not UK born or otherwise UK subjects.

Do you have any objections to the presence of Tashari Richards and/or Karim Shakur and/or Sheniz Yersever in the UK?

tito

You are hanged from a noose, hung on a fence.

Alex McKee

On the pedantry issue: Tito is completely correct, it's 'hanged'.

On topic: If it were the other way around, a black youth killed by a mob of white youths, the headline would be "Schoolboy skewered to death by racist mob 'baying for blood'". Just an observation of the screwed up thinking in this country.

The problem is not isolated to the black 'community'. The large gangs of violent youths are found nearly everywhere in Britain. Steps need to be taken to ensure these gangs do not form in the first place.

kernow

Ok I admit defeat! We'll "Hung" the ******** on a barbed wire fence supported by a noose from the neck!

Hartlepool

You are not alone.I am 100% behind you regards hanging such murdering scum.