Football boy stabbed in park

Witnesses said the 14-year-old staggered from Tabard Gardens in Southwark, clutching his blood-soaked T-shirt, at about 5pm yesterday.

He collapsed opposite a nearby pub which was filled with drinkers who watched horrified.

A 23-year-old barman who worked in the Roebuck pub today told how he helped to stem the flow of blood after seeing the teenager fighting for his life.

He said: "I had just finished my shift when I saw him lying on the pavement across the street. There were two girls with him who were trying to apply pressure to his wounds.

"He had lost a lot of blood. Someone was using a fleece jacket, which was completely soaked. It looked like he had been stabbed in the upper abdomen, possibly in the lungs. By the time help arrived his jeans and his underwear had turned red."

He was taken by helicopter to Royal London Hospital where doctors said his condition was serious but stable.

The attack happened just outside King's College London's halls of residence where hundreds of students were packing before the end of term.

One, a 22-year-old woman from Berkshire, said: "It's shocking. The poor kid was in a very bad way."

The boy was said to be one of a number of youths playing football on a nearby park's AstroTurf pitch.

People living around the park said a row began during the game and ended with the capital's latest stabbing.

The attack came as the Standard continues its Beat Knife Crime campaign which includes prosecuting everybody caught carrying a knife. The campaign is backed by Mayor Boris Johnson.

A man who did not want to be named said: "You learn to mind your own business but this isn't a bad area and there isn't much trouble normally."

His neighbour said: "There was a row on the football pitches behind the flats. I don't know what it was about, it doesn't have to be anything very serious these days. This is what we have to put up with in London now."

Another teenager who claimed to be his friend, said: "There was no reason for anyone to stab him, he is a very quiet guy and everyone likes him."

The attack is the latest to fuel concern over knife crime. Already this year 16 teenagers have been stabbed to death in London.

Meanwhile, a 16-year-old boy was recovering today after being stabbed repeatedly in the stomach.

He was discovered with his injuries after a row in Cricklewood just after 3am yesterday and taken to a north London hospital, where his condition is described as stable.