The killing of a teenager stabbed just streets away from where EastEnders actor Brooke Kinsella’s brother died eight years ago feels close to home, the Kinsella family have said, as Scotland Yard said the death was the 18th killing of a teenager in London this year.
Vaso Kakko, 17, a former pupil at St Mary Magdalene academy reported to have been doing a business apprenticeship at an estate agents, died in Yoke Close in Holloway, north London, despite efforts by paramedics and air ambulance doctors.
In 2008, Ben Kinsella was stabbed on North Road outside Shillibeer’s bar where he had been celebrating his GCSEs, leading to a major public outcry over knife crime. Kinsella died just 200 metres away from where Kakko was killed on Monday night.
On Tuesday, the Kinsella family met the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to discuss the rise in stabbings of teenagers in the capital. “It is absolutely heartbreaking, and being so close to the place where Ben was murdered makes it even closer to home for us,” the family said in a statement to the Guardian.
“Our thoughts and our hearts go out to the family; we have a good sense of what they are going through today and every day after living through a nightmare that does not get easier with time. This young boy is not a statistic; he is a brother, and son and a friend.”
The small cul-de-sac where Kakko died sits among a mix of council homes and new-build flats, just behind Caledonian Road tube station. There a handful of teenagers, several of whom said they had been to school with the victim, passed bunches of flowers over the police tape which cordoned off the close on Tuesday, watched by an officer.
Several police cars remained on the roads of the Shearling estate around the crime scene. One resident, passing along the road by the police cordon, did not want to be named but said he was alarmed by the rise in violence, mentioning the death of Kinsella. “They’re babies, little babies with knives,” he said. “Kids have been hanging around here for a long time, they meet by the clock tower. You do see fighting there sometimes. It’s so sad, it’s a tragedy.”
People living around the cul-de-sac said they believed Kakko was not living in the immediate area, and heard nothing late that night until police cars arrived.
Kakko’s brother Bruno, 25, told the Evening Standard: “He was just a lovely, nice guy who was always happy and smiley and loved playing around a lot. He was always very generous to his friends and family. He loved going out a lot, he was not a stay-at-home type. We just can’t get our heads round it at the moment. We have no idea who would target him.
“We would just like people to report anything to the police and not be scared about what they have seen because a lot of people seem to be scared of saying what they saw.”
In a statement, the Metropolitan police said: “Police were called at approximately 20.50hrs on Monday 23 November to reports of a male stabbed in Yoke Close, off North Road, N7. London Ambulance Service and land HEMS also attended and the male – aged 17 – was pronounced dead at the scene at 21.22hrs. Officers believe they know the identity of the deceased and next of kin have been informed.
“Officers from homicide and major crime command investigate and retain an open mind to the motive at this time. At this early stage, anyone with information is asked to contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Of the 18 teenagers killed in the capital this year, 14 were stabbed to death in non-domestic incidents. In 2014, a total of 11 teenagers were murdered in the capital. A rise in violence in London this year led the Met’s commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, to order more stop and search in certain areas. The home secretary, Theresa May, has criticised that approach, saying there is no link between a rise in violence and a decline in stop and search.
The number of stop and searches has fallen since 2011 amid concerns that it was affecting community trust in the police and led to few arrests. In September, police said they estimated there were fewer than 300 people who carried a knife on a regular basis in London.
After Ben Kinsella’s death, his family started a charity in his name to combat gang violence. “We truly believe that early education is a key to stop young people carrying and using knives,” the family said on Tuesday.
“We can use Ben’s story to show them exactly what happens if you choose this path. Education and support needs to start in the home with parents and families and needs to be continued and supported by schools, organisations such as ours, the police, the mayor’s office for policing and crime and the government.”
Labour’s candidate for mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, who released a six-point plan for tackling knife crime on Tuesday night, said the recent rise “concerns me greatly ... as the dad of two teenage girls”.
“The government’s huge cuts to policing will make the problem much worse,” he said. “All the evidence shows that the most effective way to reduce knife crime is to have more police officers rooted in local communities, gathering intelligence and working to a long-term plan.”
