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Gang knife victim pleads for his mother
Danny Brierley, Evening Standard04.07.08
A teenager died today after being chased by a gang of six masked and hooded youths, including at least one girl, who knocked him to the ground and knifed him repeatedly.
The daylight attack in south London ended with the victim lying in a pool of blood and pleading for his mother in front of onlookers.
He was taken to hospital where he underwent emergency surgery but later died. He is the 18th teenager to be murdered in London this year.
Witnesses said the 16-year-old was attacked at 1.45pm, close to a block of f lats in Beulah Crescent, Thornton Heath.
Police fear it may have been the latest in a number of gang-related assaults in Croydon. Resident Richard Higgins, 17, who came out of his flat to find the boy outside, said: "I heard my neighbour screaming and I walked down my stairs - the first thing I saw was the blood.
"He kept saying 'I want to see my mum'. Then he tried to get up, but we were trying to keep him down until the paramedics turned up.
"He was flitting in and out of consciousness
and kept saying, 'I can't breathe. I think I'm going to die'. I just kept trying to talk to him to keep him conscious." Police recovered a knife covered in blood in a nearby bush. Residents in Thornton Heath today called for greater police presence on the streets. Peter Gibbs, 60, said: "I have asked for more patrols and the police never listen. There was a shooting around here last time and nobody came. It's a disgrace. I've seen gangs around and I am afraid. I want the police to do something about it but nobody helps. I feel terrified and so do other residents."
The town's police force has set up a new unit dedicated to breaking up teenage mobs after a number of serious incidents.
