Too young to die
A memorial to Ben Kinsella – the 17th teenager to be murdered in London this year
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Monday, 15, Sep 2008 10:00
This year has seen 29 teenagers murdered in London, two more than were killed in 2007.
Tackling knife and gun crime became a top priority for the Metropolitan police, with thousands more metal-detecting knife 'wands' distributed amongst officers, new stop-and-search tactics and collapsible metal arches introduced.
 | Henry Bolombi, 17, became the first victim of the capital's gun and knife culture hours into the new year.
The north Londoner died on New Year's Day from stab wounds following a confrontation with four male youths in Edmonton. |
Before January was out three other teenagers had been shot or stabbed to death, starting with 18-year-old Faridon Alizada on the 4th.
Louis Boduka, also 18, was killed in a street fight on January 21st just several minutes walk from where Henry Bolombi died three weeks previously.
On January 26th Fuad Buraleh, 19, was beaten to death in Ealing.
Sunday Essiet was only 15 when he was stabbed to death in Plumstead in mid-February, while Vietnamese student Tung Le died on March 2nd in hospital after being stabbed outside a central London nightclub.
Days previously, 16-year-old Ofiyke Nmezu died in hospital after being attacked by a blunt instrument in February.
 | On March 13th 18-year-old Michael Alexander Jones was discovered by his mother bound to a chair in their house in Edmonton.
He had sustained multiple knife injuries in what police described as a "horrific" assault. |
Just a day later Nicholas Clarke, 19, was shot and died in a Stockwell estate, while later on in the month 17-year-old Devoe Roach died in hospital after being stabbed in the heart during a row at Stamford Hill train station.
On March 27th 14-year-old Amro Elbadawi was stabbed to death in West Kilburn as he returned home from school, with 15-year-old Lyle Tulloch dying in an estate stairwell in Southwark close to where Damilola Taylor was murdered eight years previously.
 | Jimmy Mizen was described by his parents as a gentle giant, but when the GCSE student refused to fight another man he was stabbed in the throat with a glass tray at a bakery in Lee on May 9th. |
 | Budding actor Robert Knox, who had a part in the upcoming Harry Potter film, became the 14th teenager to be murdered in London this year on May 24th.
The 18-year-old was stabbed after a row at the Metro Bar in Sidcup on May 24th. |
Later in May 17-year-old Sharmaake Hassan died in hospital after sustaining gunshot wounds close to Camden Market.
 | On June 2nd Arsema Dawit became the first girl to be murdered in London in 2008.
Her body was found in a lift at a block of flats close to Waterloo station. |
 | Hundreds of people took to the streets at the end of June following the death of 16-year-old Ben Kinsella, the brother of former EastEnders actress Brooke.
Supporters demanded an end to teenagers carrying knives following Ben's fatal stabbing in York Way on June 29th. |
 | On July 3rd 16-year-old Shakilus Townsend died after being attacked and stabbed in Thornton Heath. |
 | David Idowu was just 14 when he was attacked by a gang of youths on Great Dover Street, Southwark, at the end of June. He died in hospital on July 7th.
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On July 10th 18-year-old Melvin Bryan became the 20th teenager to be murdered in London this year.
He died in Edmonton, north London, after what police believe was a fight at an address on Gloucester Road.
Before July was out 18-year-old Frederick Moody became the capital's 21st teenage murder victim after being attacked in Guildford Road, Lambeth, south London.
 | And on August 7th another 18-year-old, Ryan Bravo, was fatally shot in a south London grocery shop.
The Metropolitan police said he may have been caught in the line of fire in a gangland shootout at the Costcutter on Camberwell Road, Southwark. |
 | Nilanthan Murddi was 17 when he was stabbed to death in a street brawl involving between six and eight people in Croydon, south London, on August 16th.
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 | Just over a week later Charles Junior Hendricks died after sustaining a single stab wound to the stomach at a site in Walthamstow, east London, where an London 2012 handover party had been planned to take place. |
And on Sunday August 31st an 14-year-old Shaquille Smith became the 25th teenager to die violently in the capital this year.
He was stabbed in the stomach in St Thomas' Place in Hackney, east London, the previous night.
Oliver King-Onzila was the first teen murder victim of September; stabbed to death outside a bar in Croydon in the early hours of Saturday morning on September 13th.
On Wednesday 24th September, 19-year-old Craig Marshall was stabbed to death outside a tower block in Acton.
Nabeer Bakurally then became the 28th teenager to die during a violent incident in the capital when he was stabbed through the heart in Ilford on Saturday November 8th.
Another 17-year-old youth also suffered stab wounds in the incident.
19-year-old Simmone Hedges died on November 21st after being involved in a suspect hit-and-run incident in Hillingdon.
Three men were subsequently arrested in connection with her murder.