Boy, 16, quizzed by police over fatal knifing

Felix Allen12 April 2012

Murder squad detectives were today questioning a 16-year-old boy over the fatal stabbing of a teenager in east London.

The 17-year-old victim, who has not been named, collapsed after being knifed through the heart during a fight outside a cinema, police said.

He was pronounced dead where he fell in the car park of the Showcase multiplex in East Beckton on Friday evening.

Scotland Yard said detectives were investigating whether the murder was linked to an earlier fight involving a number of youths that broke out 100 yards away at the Powerleague five-a-side football venue. It is believed the teenagers had not been playing football but clashed in the grounds near the clubhouse.

A large area of scrubland close to the venue remained cordoned off by police last night, along with a section of the cinema car park where the victim was killed.

He became the second teenager to be stabbed to death in London this year.

Two boys aged 15 and 16 who were arrested on suspicion of murder close to the scene on Friday night have been released on bail until next month.

A second 16-year-old arrested on Saturday was still in custody today. Detectives have until tomorrow to question him over the killing.

Police did not release the victim's identity but said his family has been told. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as a single stab wound to the heart. Police recovered a knife at the scene.

Detective Inspector Ian Goldsborough, who is leading the murder inquiry, appealed for witnesses to come forward.

He said: "We believe there will have been people in the area, either going to or from the Showcase cinema or a nearby restaurant, who may have seen or heard the incident that has led to the tragic death of a teenager.

"We are appealing to them, or anyone else who was in the area at the time of the incident, to contact us and let us know what they saw or heard."

He said detectives were "keeping an open mind" on any possible motive.

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