Exclusive
86TH MURDER
THE 'former Southampton FC youth team player' who was stabbed to death in North West London last night "with a foot-long machete" has been pictured for the first time.
The teen, who has been named locally as Alex Smith, was killed on a housing estate in Camden, close to Regent's Park.
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Plastic sheets covered the ground outside one home where the boy is thought to have fallen after he was fatally knifed with a foot-long machete.
Terrified witnesses told how the boy's attackers ran from the scene laughing.
One resident, 50, told the Sun Online: "I saw the body on the door path. People said it was two or three boys who attacked him.
"He tried to knock the door, saying, 'Help me'. People were scared, that is why nobody opened."
Rosanara Begum, 55, told the London Evening Standard: "The boy was running away from them. Then we saw the two boys holding him and the other one stabbing him.
"As soon as I heard ‘Help me, help me’ I was on the phone to the ambulance. He was bleeding a lot.
"The attackers were skinny and just looked like teenagers. They were running off and they were screaming and laughing."
Her daughter added: "We saw three boys all wearing hoods all covered in black, the middle one had a long black machete-type knife. It was really long."
TALENTED FOOTBALLER
Friends today claimed Alex had trialled for a "few months" at Southampton FC but had "gone off the rails" after he was released by the club.
One pal told the Sun Online: "We played in the same football team for a number of years.
"I was good friends from around age six to 14, but in the last couple of years he went off the rails.
"We played at Southampton FC youth team together but he got released and then got involved with the wrong people.
"He was just a normal guy but after [he got released] people started calling him 'Culprit'.
"I think he was then involved in gang violence...he wasn't going to school."
The friend said he trialled at Southampton for "about five months" but failed to secure a contract which led to him being released.
A spokesperson for Southampton FC said he was never officially signed by the club but added: "He may have trialled or trained at our London Development Centre."
The friend said Alex had an older brother called Marcos, who studied at the University of Hertfordshire.
Other pals told how Alex, an Arsenal fan, had been due to receive his GCSE results later this month.
Another friend said: "He loved football and was a big Arsenal fan he was looking forward to the Premier League season. He had everything to live for.
"It’s unbelievable. He was killed over nothing. If it can happen to him it could happen to any of us."
POSTCODE WARS
A 20-year-old student who lives on the estate said he'd seen the murdered teen with pals in a nearby park a week ago.
He said bloody postcode turf wars had been raging among rival gangs in the area recently.
He said: "I used to see his face. I saw him in a local park. I don't think he lived on the estate.
"He had a lot of friends here. He would visit here quite often. He was here every day on the estate.
"There are post code wars all the time in Camden."
A mum-of-six, 63, who has lived in the area for 25 years, said knife crime had got much worse in the last few years.
She said: "I am very scared. I have children. We have lived here 25 years. The last couple of years it has got worse."
There have been 86 violent deaths in London so far this year. Fifteen of those victims have been teens, 14 of whom were fatally stabbed.
TEEN DEAD AT SCENE
A crime scene remains in place today.
No arrests have been made and police enquiries are ongoing, Scotland Yard said.
A spokesman for the force said: "Police were called at approximately 11.10pm last night to reports of a male stabbed in Munster Square.
"Officers and London Ambulance Service attended and the male – who is 16-years-old – was pronounced dead at the scene."
Anyone with information should call 101 and quote CAD8433/12Aug.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: "The senseless death of a 16-year-old boy in Camden last night is another example of how violent crime destroys lives and traumatises communities. My thoughts are with his family and friends."
MOST READ IN NEWS
Violent crimes have soared in London since Mr Khan took over as mayor, with 2018 the bloodiest year in almost a decade.
Figures revealed five young people are attacked with a knife every day in London and Mr Khan warned it could take a "decade" to turn back the tide of violent crime.
There have already been 86 violent deaths in London this year.
The Prime Minister said this week he was determined to tackle rising levels of knife crime amid the impression of a growing "culture of insolence" among "thugs" who believed they could act with impunity.
Boris Johnson pledged to extended police stop and search powers and also said the government would be investing £2.5 billion in creating 10,000 new prison places to ensure serious violent and sexual offenders got the sentence they deserved.
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LONDON KILLINGS 2019
Boris Johnson praises the bravery of the officers after machete attack on cop in Leyton promises more support for police
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