Fatal stabbing in Sydenham Road

This is so very sad - my thoughts are with his family and friends.

You may have also heard that there was a machete attack a few days ago in broad daylight. A man wielding a 2ft knife chased after another man on foot near Perry Vale. A stolen Range Rover also tried to mow down a moped in the same attack.

This chase continued down Perry Vale, up Perry Rise and ended near Bell Green where the Range Rover hit a pedestrian, and then reversed in to a Police car that was pursuing them. I have been informed that 3 people have been arrested, and it is suspected to be gang related.

It is very disheartening that these sorts of activities are taking place in our community and I really hope this is not a trend.

I drove past this and wondered what had happened, police in different spots on Perry Rise, sniffer dog looking for something in the grass, armed police present and a couple of people seemingly stopped.

Indeed. I think it’s almost inevitable crime will rise as more people go out etc but hopefully the rise will be minimal not exponential. SE23 has always felt pretty safe and I hope, think, that will continue.

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Update from the MET on this sad sad situation:

It’s just so sad. That lovely photo sort of brings it home. Who hasn’t got a family photo of a young boy smiling at the camera from what looks like someone else’s motorbike or, from my generation, their chopper bike?

I don’t think that’s kind. We don’t know what happened.

I don’t think this is helpful. Assumptions are pointless and a kid has died.

Good to at least see some swift police work on this case:

The police are still appealing for information:

News Shopper are following the case which has already come to the Old Bailey. The article below has some more details of the harrowing events as described in the Crown Court:

Throw the book at all of them. Sickening.

why? that’s what comes to my mind. why? I will never understand the mentality of this

As a mother , I could never imagine taking my child for a fight , let alone with weapons, it’s all just so sickening and so so sad

How absolutely appalling. The poor man couldn’t even begin to defend himself could he, due to being disabled. I agree throw the book at them. They have to be mentally ill in some way to do such a sickening act.

Can we please refrain from using mental illness as an excuse for their behaviour. There are plenty of people with mental health conditions who would not dream of taking another person’s life nor assisting in doing so. It adds a stigma to mental health when in reality these people are simply evil.

I can see where you are coming from, & I agree that most mentally ill people wouldn’t do such a thing. But there has to be something other than just plain ‘evil’ (where does that come from, all 3 of them, including 2 teenagers).
Of course I’m not saying that all 3 have mental health issues, but perhaps the mother has a history of violence, or been subjected to violence herself, & the children have known no different.

Why are you trying to make excuses for these despicable people? Perhaps “evil” isn’t quite the right word but there are far too many people around today who think that extreme violence is the answer to every problem and they all need to be punished to the fullest extent that the law will allow.

I don’t think anyone is trying to make excuses for these people, just trying to figure out some reason or comprehension as to what could have gone so tragically wrong in some people’s lives to end up that such a terrible and almost unimaginable event could have taken place.

I’m sorry but in my opinion attempting to figure out i.e. guess what went wrong in their lives to make them do such a thing is trying to make excuses for them by diminishing their personal responsibility. For whatever reason they are the despicable people that they have become and should be locked away for the safety of all of us for a very, very long time.

I’m not making excuses. @beatrix said that it gives all mentally ill people a bad name, & I was just agreeing that not all mentally ill people would do that.
But how do you define evil? Are they born evil? There has to be something wrong with them,& I was just giving an example, not letting them off the hook by any means. You will see from my previous reply that I agreed the book should be thrown at them.

I get what you mean with regards to your first statement. That you were only trying to make sense of the entire situation.

There is no excuse for what the mother allowed her children to do. I’m strong believer that, while behaviour is learnt, you can break out of a vicious cycle; if you are given the means and support to. I simply don’t understand what would drive a person to do such a thing.

I don’t see the point of speculating on the motives of the alleged killers. The motives and actions should be revealed at the upcoming trial. Indeed the case is surely sub-judice so we should be careful of not making prejudicial remarks.

Patience please. The victim’s family is surely going through enough already

@StuartG makes a few great points particularly around avoiding speculation.

If we end up with more noise than news, it might be time for this thread to close down.

Gosh, that is devastating.