Another brilliant student stabbed to death
Innocent teenager stabbed to death by gang
17-year-old hunted down for straying into path of thugs
Kwame was seen groaning before collapsing on the pavement
Share
Justin Davenport Simon Freeman
05 March 2012
Evening Standard
A budding actor and talented footballer who “detested” gang crime was hunted down and killed by two youths in a random attack.
Kwame Ofosu-Asare, 17, son of a prominent TV sports presenter, was chased and stabbed to death in Brixton, the first time he had visited the area. Police described him as a “totally innocent” victim of an assault by two black youths. His father Kwaku today hit out at London’s “gangland madness”, saying: “He was the captain of his school football team, he was a very good actor. He went to church every week and wanted to get into music in the future. He had so much ambition and so much to live for. He detested gang crime.”
Kwame, an A-level student from Catford, had recently received advice from Rio Ferdinand and posted a photo of himself posing with the star on Facebook.
His father said he and a friend were going to a music studio to record a rap track when they were attacked on Friday. He said: “I last saw him at around 2pm. I was on the phone and he came in on his way from school and he said, ‘See you later dad’. It was so normal.”
Kwame was studying A-levels including business studies at Forest Hill School.
New figures show another surge in knife crime in London with the number of offences rising by more than nine per cent in the past 12 months. Serious youth violence is also up by five per cent.
Mr Ofosu-Asare, a Ghanaian TV sports reporter who worked on the Africa Cup for CNN, spoke out as two other teenagers were stabbed in London and were fighting for their lives in hospital today.
Detectives are also examining whether Kwame’s murder is linked to seven other stabbings within a few miles of each other in eight days, including an attack on the top deck of a 432 bus in West Norwood which left a 17-year-old boy critically injured four hours earlier.
Kwame and an unnamed friend had been to the recording studio and were on their way to visit a relative when they were walking through the Moorlands estate shortly before 6pm on Friday.
Witnesses describe how two hooded youths — who had “an air of menace” — approached them. They were chased into Adelaide Close. While his friend escaped after vaulting an 8ft fence, Kwame was repeatedly stabbed. He died on the way to hospital.
A witness described how he saw Kwame crouched in the street groaning before collapsing onto the pavement. He said: “He was lying face down on the floor with his arms by his side. He looked so young.” Detectives believe the pair may have been targeted, either in revenge for the bus stabbing or because they strayed onto a gang’s territory.
Mr Ofosu-Asare added: “We just need to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything that will help bring his killers to justice.”
Last night more than 20 friends and relatives gathered at Kwame’s family home.
Streatham MP Chuka Umunna said: “Yet again we see very serious violence and, tragically in one case, a fatality, amongst our young people for no purpose whatsoever — it is totally unacceptable and we will not put up with it.”
He said youth workers had told him that gang tensions were high in south London and they and the police had been expecting trouble.
Detective Chief Inspector John McFarlane appealed for anyone who saw two youths in the area or in Coldharbour Lane on Friday evening to contact them on 020 8721 4205 or ring Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Additional reporting: Mark Blunden
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Mike
Bookmarks