Youths stabbed in school street battle as police stand by

A 14-year-old was knifed in the chest and back and a 15-year-old stabbed in the thigh as up to 40 youths - many in school uniform - fought in Newham.

The fight happened on Monday afternoon as children came out of Langdon School, in Sussex Road, East Ham.

Hasan Akgur, owner of International Food Centre, in Barking Road, said: "There were two police officers standing just around the corner and they did nothing, it's not like they didn't see.

"But how could they do anything? There's so many kids and as soon as they walk towards these kids they scatter."

Another witness, a 14-year-old girl who did not want to be named, said the brawl started after a gang of youths confronted a teenager.

She said it could have been avoided if police and community support officers who normally patrol the school gates had been present.

She added: "It all started when an older boy on a bike spotted one of his enemies on his own and confronted him. He was yelling 'you're scared,

you're scared!' really close to his face and soon the atmosphere was like a pressure cooker. More kids just came from nowhere and one threw a brick."

One boy then pulled out a knife. The witness said: "One of the boys was stabbed in the back of the thigh with a big butcher's knife and the younger one was stabbed in the chest, there was a lot of blood. After they were stabbed, it seemed like even more people poured onto the streets. They started kicking and punching one of the ringleaders in the head and body."

The two wounded boys staggered a few hundred yards up Barking Road before collapsing close to the junction of Altmore Avenue at around 4pm.

The 15-year-old was discharged from hospital. The younger boy is in a stable condition. It is understood that both victims, named locally as Mahmoud and Hamza, attend Langdon school.

A witness said the boy who pulled the knife stashed it in the shutters of the dry cleaners.

The local florist claimed such violence is "an everyday occurrence". Former Langdon pupil Kam Kham, 19, added: "I used to get chased all the time and there's just no reason for it. No one knows why this all started."

Ofsted said in 2006 that Langdon was "outstanding" and pupils "enter with very low standards but achieve extremely well". But it has been dogged by violence. No one from the specialist sports college was available to comment.

Two 15-year-old boys are being held at at an east London police station over Monday's attack. Witnesses should call Plaistow CID on 020 7275 5855 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Four teenagers have been stabbed to death in London this year.