Teenagers arrested on suspicion of murdering boy, 15, in east London

Three held for questioning after boy dies from knife wounds at scene in Romford

Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death following a fight at a birthday party in east London.

Scotland Yard said they had been taken for questioning at separate police stations after the incident in Romford on Saturday night.

Friends screamed “he’s dead” and “they’ve killed my best friend” as groups of teenagers scattered following the altercation, witnesses said.

Police were called to a community centre shortly after 9pm after fighting broke out as youngsters left the event. The boy was found with knife wounds and died at the scene.

A woman who lives nearby described hearing friends of the victim screaming and sobbing, saying: “It was chaos out here last night.”

Giving her name as Carol, she said: “Around 9:20pm, I heard a lot of noise going on. For some reason, it didn’t sound right. Then I heard a lad crying down the phone: ‘He’s dead, he’s dead.’

“He was laying down in the road, there was a lot of blood. The police were working on him, they tried their absolute damnedest with that boy last night. Nobody should die like that.”

Det Sgt Gurj Singh appealed for information from people about what they saw and heard to help police build a clearer picture of what took place. “Equally, if you have video footage or images of the violent aftermath to the party, we need to hear from you,” he said.

A teenager, identified only as Ellie, who witnessed the attack through her window after hearing screaming, said: “There were two or three boys screaming ‘he’s not moving’, ‘he’s dead’.

“There was a big group on the corner with just the boy on the floor. There were paramedics doing shocks and CPR on him for quite a while.

“After, he was just laying there with a white sheet over him – it was covered in blood.”

The boy’s next of kin have been informed, but his identity has not yet been released. The Metropolitan police said a bus driver in his 50s was treated for a head injury at the scene, although there were no reports of other injuries.

After visiting the area, the Romford MP, Andrew Rosindell, tweeted:

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said: “Anyone involved in this tragic incident will swiftly face the full force of the law. If you have any information at all about the incident last night – please report this to the police. There is no honour in remaining silent.”

The mayor noted how “violent crime is rising across our country and these senseless deaths are devastating families and communities, causing pain, loss and fear ... Let me be clear – these appalling crimes will not be tolerated in London. There are no excuses for carrying a knife”.

Dozens of people have been stabbed to death in London this year and official figures released in April showed violent crime was on the rise in England and Wales.