I cradled my dying son as knife gang fled

Shaquille Smith died after he and his 16-year-old sister Titi were attacked by a gang on BMX bikes just yards from their home. Titi suffered slash wounds to the face.

Their mother, Sandra Maitland, 43, said she had found her son bleeding to death from a single stab wound.

Mrs Maitland, a social worker, said: "I called out of the window to remind Shaquille to wash the dishes and that it was getting late.

"A few minutes later, his sister shouted at me to come outside because the Fields Boys were there," she said, referring to a gang named after the local park, London Fields.

"I ran out and they just rushed past me. Shaquille was lying on the floor, he kept saying to stop everyone shouting. I was pressing on his wound, trying to stop the bleeding with a towel."

Shaquille is the 25th teenager to be killed in London this year and the 19th to be stabbed. He was killed just a few streets from where Ahmed Benyermak, 16, plunged to his death from a tower block while being pursued by a gang.

Shaquille's sister was recovering at home today after having stitches put in a wound to her face.

They had been walking a friend's dog just before midnight on Saturday in a small park off St Thomas's Place, where the family lived, when a gang of around 15 youths turned up on BMX bikes. Shaquille, who has three sisters and a brother, was stabbed once in the abdomen.

He was taken by ambulance to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, where surgeons were initially hopeful the knife had missed his liver and just punctured his bowel.

Mrs Maitland said: "He said that when he woke up, he wanted two bottles of strawberry-flavoured water and to see his one-year-old baby sister.

"I went up to theatre with him at 2am and stayed the whole time but at 7am, they said they couldn't stop the bleeding."

Shaquille was pronounced dead just before 8.15am.

Mrs Maitland said: "Our family is still in shock, it just hasn't sunk in yet. It's like he's still there in hospital and will come home soon."

Mrs Maitland said she was at a loss to explain a motive, saying: "There was no confrontation, they just attacked."

Shaquille, a keen Manchester United supporter, attended Sir John Cass's Foundation School and Pembury Estate Youth Centre.

He had "very good manners" and had joined the army cadets. "I wanted him to focus on something productive that gave him self-discipline so if he was to face a situation he would back away from confrontation," Mrs Maitland said. "He's not a fighter.

"He had a really good summer and was getting ready to go back to school next week."

Shaquille feared having to travel far to see friends, with gangs picking on those from other areas in the so-called "postcode war".

Mrs Maitland said: "He didn't think I gave him enough freedom but I told him there were lots of dangers out there."

A neighbour said he saw a gang of up to 10 youths on bikes outside his house before the stabbing. He said: "Shaquille dragged himself in front of his house. He was saying: 'Ouch, ouch, my stomach,' but very quietly. He was conscious all the time before the ambulance arrived."

No arrests have been made. Police have appealed for witnesses.