A teenager was stabbed to death when a fight broke out inside a youth offending service office in the town hall of Boris Johnson’s west London constituency.
The 18-year-old, named locally as Akeem Sillah, suffered a fatal knife wound when violence erupted in the office at Hillingdon Council civic centre in Uxbridge just before 5pm last night.
Paramedics tried to save his life at the scene but he was pronounced dead in hospital an hour later. A second teenager, who bravely tried to intervene, was slashed across the ear.
Police said the victim’s mother had dropped him off at the civic centre for an “awareness event” 50 minutes before he was killed. She is said to be “broken”.
The Prime Minister today offered his condolences to the victim’s family as detectives questioned a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of murder.
Mr Johnson said: “Very sad news from Uxbridge last night. My thoughts are with the victim’s friends and family.”
The killing marks the 120th homicide investigation launched in the capital this year. It brings the total number of teenagers killed in London in 2019 to 24, equalling 2018’s total.
Traumatised council staff hugged each other as they arrived for work and also consoled a friend of the victim who was sobbing at the crime scene.
A woman who went to school with the victim said: “He was a good boy. He was a joker, he brought light into your life. He was so caring.”
Staff said they had called for knife arches to be installed in the reception area after previous incidents when blades had been smuggled into the building. One said: “After what
happened this time we need serious action. I am thinking of resigning. A while ago, a man pulled a knife on a colleague. You can’t have people bringing knives into the council. We need knife arches.” Another said: “We are all in total shock. We need more protection. The violence is coming off the streets and into public buildings.”
One witness, shopkeeper Jassim Ali, 50, said: “I saw the boy being put into the back of the ambulance … I think they performed CPR on him in the offices.”
The Youth Offending Service at the council provides support for people aged 10 to 17 considered to be on the fringes of crime or at risk of offending.
Fears were raised earlier this year that closures of some offices, following budget cuts, had led to members of rival postcode gangs being scheduled to attend appointments at the same office.
Anyone with information should call police on 0208 785 8099 or Crime-stoppers on 0800 555 111.
