Stabbed boy becomes London's 26th teenage murder victim in one year

Last updated at 13:43 17 December 2007

A stabbing outside a community centre has taken the total of London teenagers murdered this year to 26.

David Nowak, 16, became the latest victim on Saturday during a series of running fights between two rival gangs in Stoke Newington.

He is the 17th teenager to be stabbed to death this year. Eight others have been shot dead and one was beaten to death. The average age of victims is 16 with the youngest being 14.

The Metropolitan Police has launched a series of crackdowns on the carrying of weapons but admits it is struggling to curb the capital's youth gang culture.

Witnesses told today how 16-year-old David Nowak was stabbed to death during a mass brawl outside a birthday party as two rival gangs clashed.

The teenager was knifed when one group of youths tried to storm the party being held at the community centre on the Somerford Grove Estate in Stoke Newington.

Some of the teenagers were said to be armed with knives, hammers and wooden bats. The two gangs are believed to be the Holly Street Boys and The DNA Boys.

There were a series of running fights in the street late on Saturday night and David was stabbed once, injuring his kidney and liver.

He was taken to the Royal London Hospital but died in the early hours of yesterday. A second boy aged 15 was also stabbed. He is in a stable condition.

Police said the crime scene covered hundreds of yards as the boys and girls spilled out on to the street where the stabbing took place in Farleigh Road. One witness, who did not want to be named, saw David run past bleeding heavily and shouting: "Someone help me, someone help me". The witness added: "There was a lot of blood. He was holding his arm across his chest. I think someone was chasing him."

Another resident said: "I could see gangs of kids running up the road yelling, 'Let's get them'. They looked like they were out for revenge."

One theory now being examined is that the group who tried to get into the party were members of the Holly Street Boys.

Teenagers who knew David said they believed he had links with the Stoke Newington gang The DNA Boys. Believed to be mixed race of Turkish descent, David was known in the area by his graffiti tag "Turk" or "TK".

Neighbour Lisa Jones, 23, said locals knew him as a "crazy boy". She said: "I did not really socialise with him much, he just had a close circle of mates."

Detectives today confirmed they were "looking at the possibility" that the stabbing is gang related but refused to say whether David, who attended Stoke Newington Secondary School,was a gang member.

Fourteen teenagers, including a girl of 13, have been arrested.

Yasmin Molabaksh, 29, a mother-of-two, said she had known some of the gang members when she lived in Dalston.

She said: "The gangs go by postcode. If you go to the wrong area you get stabbed. It is terrifying.

"I heard screaming and shouting. I looked out of the window and saw a whole load of young kids fighting. I only heard later that someone had been killed."

David was stabbed a few streets from where 17-year-old Etem Celebi was shot dead as he sat on a wall with friends last month. Ms Jones added: "I knew Etem, he was a friend of mine. It is so scary that this kids are getting murdered. When I was their age this sort of thing was not as common. Now it is like a status symbol for gang members to kill someone - to get higher up and carry better weapons.

"You can only hope that when they get older they will grow out of it, if they live that long."

The death caps a year of unprecedented violence in London which has led to a record number of teenagers being killed in violent circumstances. The average age of victims is 16.

The mother of one of the first victims, James Smarrt-Ford, believes witnesses are being terrified into silence.

Tracey Smartt-Ford added: "Other young boys have been murdered and perpetrators are not being punished."

The grim toll of teenage victims:

A-level student Stephen Boachie, 17, stabbed to death on his way home in Barking on 1 January.

Young businessman Dean Rashid Lahlou, 18, stabbed to death in Tottenham, 9 January.

St Lucia-born student Jevon Henry, 18, stabbed in St John's Wood on 24 January.

Student James Andre Smartt-Ford, 16, shot outside Streatham ice rink on 3 February.

Schoolboy Michael Dosunmu, 15, shot dead in his bedroom in Peckham by two gunmen on 6 February.

Drug dealer Billy Cox, 15, shot dead in bedroom by rival drugs gang in Clapham on 14 February.

Kodjo Yenga, 16, stabbed in Hammersmith on 14 March.

Talented sportsman and pupil Adam Regis, 15, stabbed to death in Plaistow on 17 March.

Schoolboy Paul Erhahon, 14 stabbed in the chest in Leytonstone on 6 April.

Dwaine Douglas, 18, stabbed to death during a street fight in Thornton Heath on 18 May.

Bullied student Danielle Johnson, 17, stabbed and beaten in Bounds Green on 12 June.

Student Sian Simpson, 18, stabbed to death in a row between two groups of girls in Croydon on 19 June.

Schoolboy Ben Hitchcock, 16, stabbed to death following a party in Beckenham on 23 June.

Student Annaka Pinto, 16, shot dead trying to intervene in a row in Tottenham on 23 June.

Schoolboy Martin Dinnegan, 14, stabbed by a gang in Holloway on 26 June.

Abu Shahin, 18, stabbed after being chased by a gang in Ilford on 26 June.

Abukar Mahamud, 16, shot in the neck after being chased in Stockwell by youths on bikes on 26 July.

Youth worker and equestrian Nathan Foster, 18, shot dead intervening in a row in Brixton on 3 August.

Guinea-born teenager Mohammed Ahmed, 17, stabbed in Newham on 30 August.

Student Edvin Johnson, 19, died after being stabbed in the leg in Camberwell on 16 September.

A-level student Rizwan Darbar, 17, stabbed in chest during robbery in West Ham Park on 7 October.

Student Philip Poru, 18, shot dead while sitting in a car in Woolwich on 14 October.

Semi-pro footballer Etem Celebi, 17, shot dead in Hackney on 14 November.

Congolese student Biendi "Bobby" Litambola, 17, beaten to death in Canning Town on 17 November.

Schoolboy Jack Large, 14, stabbed to death in a fight in Chigwell on 30 November.

David Nowak, 16, stabbed to death in a mass brawl at a birthday party on 15 December.