Boy stabbed for defying pitbull gang

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Senior prefect Darcey Menezes, 16, is seriously ill in hospital after being stabbed five times in the back by a gang which was terrorising younger children with a pitbull terrier in the grounds of Salesian College in Battersea on Thursday afternoon.

Menezes had asked a gang of six youths to stop setting the dog on year nine children in the school playground as they went home. He was only saved when a male teacher came to his rescue.

The teenager is now said to be in a stable condition in hospital, where his mother Maria, 43, and father Joao, 42, are at his side.

His brother Steven, 17, described the keen footballer as a "tough person" who sees his family and friends as "his most treasured possession". He had stayed behind at school for extra study towards his GCSEs, in which he is expected to get top marks.

Speaking from the Portuguese family's home in Stockwell, Steven said: "If people are causing trouble he always goes and asks them to stop it.

"The gang were picking on the little kids and Darcey came in and tried to intervene. He told the younger children to go away and keep away so they wouldn't get in trouble, but the gang didn't really like that at all and set on him.

The Roman Catholic boys' school is opposite the Surrey Lane Estate and is a beacon school for boys from ethnic minorities. It is fortified with metal spikes above the gates and grilles on the windows.

Steven added: "The school is a good school but the area is not. I don't know the story of the youths, maybe the young ones were following the older ones and their minds are corrupted. They didn't even run away really and the police caught them straight away." He said his brother was "very lucky to be alive".

School headmaster Stephen McCann said: "This was a very shocking incident for the whole school and staff, particularly as it happened on school premises. It was very busy as it was home time."

Six youths aged between 14 and 17 were arrested and have been charged with violent disorder. One has also been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent. Three were remanded in custody and the other three were released on bail to appear at Balham Youth Court tomorrow.