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Police release description of gang who murdered teen

4:03pm Friday 4th July 2008

comment Comments (20)   Have your say »

By Dan Menhinnitt »

Cops investigating the murder of a 16-year-old in Thornton Heath have confirmed the teen was attacked by a gang armed with knives and a baseball bat.

Shakilus Townsend, from Tanners Hill, Deptford, was attacked by a gang of three boys and one girl as he walked through Beulah Crescent.

"We have a 92 per cent detection rate for knife murders. If you come forward, your evidence will help take dangerous individuals out of your community and help deliver justice to the community."

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons

The three boys - who were wearing hoodies and bandannas over their faces - set on the teen stabbing him and hitting him round the head with a baseball bat.

Emergency services found the frightened teen fatally injured in a doorway being comforted by residents.

Shakilus, known as Shaki by his family, was rushed to St George's Hospital, Tooting, where he died just after midnight.

Police described his attackers as black and in their mid-teens. The girl was described as black, in her mid-teens and wearing a floral dress.

According to police the gang seemed to be unfamiliar with the area, and ran in various directions looking for a way to escape.

Officers recovered two knives from the scene.

Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons, who is leading the murder investigation, said: "I would urge those people to come forward and speak to the police, to help us bring justice to Shakilus' family and friends.

"I would reassure those witnesses that if you come forward you will be dealt with professionally and in confidence by officers from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command.

"We have a 92 per cent detection rate for knife murders. If you come forward, your evidence will help take dangerous individuals out of your community and help deliver justice to the community."

To contact the investigation team call 020 8721 4205 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.


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marie, Thornton Heath says...
7:19pm Fri 4 Jul 08

Just 10 minutes down the road. What a tragedy. That poor young man. His grieving Family. Shakilus Townsend was just out minding his own business. R.I.P young man. Rest in peace.

Les, Surrey says...
10:51pm Fri 4 Jul 08

Things have gone too far.

It's about time this lousy, corrupt and incompetent government declared a state of emergency.

We need a temporary curfew on youths so that they're off the street early evening and let's get the army out and about doing stop and search.
Does this sound a bit heavy? What is the alternative?

We have descended into anarchy. How are we ever going to get the scum off our streets?

The government has got to have the guts to take some radical action to reverse this chaos and make this country a safe place to live again.

Should we bring back the death penalty for murder?
One thing is for sure, we cannot carry on like this.

dave, croydon says...
11:10pm Fri 4 Jul 08

And the croydon police say that crime figures are getting better,not in north croydon they arent the place is full of scum

Big Ron, Croydon says...
10:29am Sat 5 Jul 08

"Police described his attackers as black and in their mid-teens ".
Message to the young black youths in gangs:
Do you realise how cowardly you're being when you go around in groups picking on lone individuals? Then using a blade because you're too pu$$y to use your fists?
Grow up you pathetic morons.

P, says...
10:56am Sat 5 Jul 08

Black kids going around thinking they are gangstas, killing people and then going to jail to hang out with their mates and play playstation. Not a bad life for most of them to end up in jail. Some people think justice has been served when these animals get sent to jaul but believe me most thugs would prefer to be there.
This country is never going to change, its only going to get much worse. Look at allt he fatal stabbings and shootings in the past 2 years and yet the government STILL hasnt done anything about it!!! WAKE UP!

Toks, Croydon says...
11:22am Sat 5 Jul 08

When I punish my kids I take away their privelages (i.e. PS2, tv time, pocket money and so on) and all they do is back chat or forget to do their chores.

Kids in prison deserve no privelages they are their bcos they are being punished for heinous crimes. The govt. needs to fix up and take away all dem dvds, ps2, and luxury items in the prison and make it as hard as hell for them not somewhere they go and have a good time with fellow gangsters and come out even worse than they went in.

Prison in this country is a big fat joke, bring back the national guard. Life in prison should mean life if there is no chance of ever getting out maybe those idiots will think twice b4 taking a life,

Toks, Croydon says...
11:33am Sat 5 Jul 08

Yes it was black youths in this case and probably in some other cases too, but not in all cases so lets not all focus on just the black youth of today.
These little creeps come in a variant of colours and ethnic backgrounds.
The issue here is to focus on this dissappointing youth (yob) culture that they all seem drawn to and get rid of it.

I am a black single mother doing my **** best to make great citizens out of my kids and my kids are never on the street corners right now my 15 yr old boy is helping me clean the house which we do every saturday, not all black kids are bad so don't stereotype.

The government needs to withdraw our troops from the middle east and bring them home to come and fight the war on our streets let the Americans fight their own wars we've got one right here at home that doesn't seem to be ending.

dave, croydon says...
12:04pm Sat 5 Jul 08

Toks wrote:
Yes it was black youths in this case and probably in some other cases too, but not in all cases so lets not all focus on just the black youth of today. These little creeps come in a variant of colours and ethnic backgrounds. The issue here is to focus on this dissappointing youth (yob) culture that they all seem drawn to and get rid of it. I am a black single mother doing my **** best to make great citizens out of my kids and my kids are never on the street corners right now my 15 yr old boy is helping me clean the house which we do every saturday, not all black kids are bad so don't stereotype. The government needs to withdraw our troops from the middle east and bring them home to come and fight the war on our streets let the Americans fight their own wars we've got one right here at home that doesn't seem to be ending.
Its true what you say but its only the negative side of anything that makes the news thats the way the media work to sell newspapers, good news is no news

mandy, the dark side of the moon says...
1:28pm Sat 5 Jul 08

That's an answer putting troops on the streets? What crap. Maybe the adults need to take back their neigbourhood. If it means carrying your own baseball bat for the time being so be it. How about electing people who are tough on crime and causing hell when they don't?

Let's stop the political correctness talk. The fact is black kids did this. The next time it might be white kids. Society has degenerated to such low standards that someone who is doing the right thing raising their kids and living a good life seems to expect a pat on the back. As a parent and as an adult that is what you are supposed to do! Your job is the raise decent human beings. Maybe you should consider holding the parents responsible for the actions of their underage children like some other countries do. You'd be surprised how fast things straightened up.

Susan, Thonton Heath says...
1:32pm Sat 5 Jul 08

I work in a school in Lambeth. Back in January we were given a large sum of money to set up diversionary activities for kids in danger of gang involvement. It was a three month pilot project. We ran the activities, the kids came in! we managed to stretch the money until last week. Now there is no more money available to us.It was a short term Government project.
The kids are back on the street and already some have been arrested. WAKE UP WESTMINSTER IF YOU WANT KNIVES AND GUNS OFF THE STREETS YOU NEED TO FIND SOMETHING FOR THESE KIDS TO DO!

My sympathy goes out to all the families of these lost precious young people.

ros, bristol says...
3:17pm Sat 5 Jul 08

yes they were black and yes there is a problem with black youths on streets in areas where there is a high ethnic population and the victims are mostly black and there is a problem with white youth in areas where there is mainly white residents. There is no easy answer to this unless you curtail civil liberties. as was mentioned with the army etc. Last week a white girl killed a black girl in a fight. I am not now scared of all white girls. If we make bogey men then we are going to dream of them. These immature youths are desensitised at an early age. They are in control and they know it. Rest in peace Shaki. You did not die in vain...I will hug my son all the closer and try to ensure that none of my children ever take the life of someone elses kids.

vintage55, kingston says...
5:31pm Sat 5 Jul 08

I'm afraid we can't keep on turning our backs on the fact that some of the most brutal, depraved and gratuitous violence on our streets has been perpetrated by blacks. Look at the history of crimiality that now infests our streets. Who introduced muggings to this country twenty years ago? Car jacking? Steaming through trains assaultingand robbing passengers? Happy slapping? Each one of these has raised the limbo bar of fear that decent lawful people now experience on the streets.
Even in Kingston where there is a small black population, the crime figures show a high proportion of street crime committed by blacks. My teenage kids cross the road if they see other black kids. It shouln't have come to this, but they experience on an almost daily basis the thuggish, 'gimme respect' ways of black teenagers.
I wish it wasn't like this. Multi-culturalism can't ever work across cultures that have conflicting moral values and standards.

unknown, ldn says...
7:02pm Sat 5 Jul 08

the gal dat was with the youth set up shakilas.
she was goin to meet him but she brought them boys to beat him up.

Toks, Croydon says...
8:46pm Sat 5 Jul 08

mandy wrote:
That's an answer putting troops on the streets? What crap. Maybe the adults need to take back their neigbourhood. If it means carrying your own baseball bat for the time being so be it. How about electing people who are tough on crime and causing hell when they don't? Let's stop the political correctness talk. The fact is black kids did this. The next time it might be white kids. Society has degenerated to such low standards that someone who is doing the right thing raising their kids and living a good life seems to expect a pat on the back. As a parent and as an adult that is what you are supposed to do! Your job is the raise decent human beings. Maybe you should consider holding the parents responsible for the actions of their underage children like some other countries do. You'd be surprised how fast things straightened up.
Mandy I'm not looking for a pat on the back, I brought my kids into this world and know I am obligated to raise them right. I was just stating that not all black kids are bad and not all kids raised by single parents turn out bad.

As for the troops comment it was merely a dig at the Government who are so far America's backside they have forgotten to deal with the problems here on home turf.

ANNE GILES, SELSDON says...
10:14pm Sat 5 Jul 08

When police say that crime figures have dropped, they mean overall crime figures - not killings. The colour of a person's skin has nothing to do with crime.

dave, croydon says...
10:56pm Sat 5 Jul 08

But it has a lot to do with knife crime

ros, bristol says...
3:10am Sun 6 Jul 08

there has been evil and violence in this country for years you say the blacks invented mugging. Look in the history books and you may find out a bit more. I agree something needs to be done in the inner cities. Each new immigrant community that comes in will have it's own issues. The somalian youths where I live are becoming more and more violent and there is plenty of anger being stored up for the future. This appears not to be a black thing but a cultural thing...more to do with parenting and peer pressure.

lucy, norbury says...
6:36pm Sun 6 Jul 08

Yes this time it was black teens who did the crime, but that is becuase there is a high population of black teens in croydon. In other parts of the country where violent crime is high, it will be from whatever disadvantaged teens they have living there. This is not a race thing. Black, white, asian and mixed are all getting killed on our streets. We as a country have lost control of our communities and something drastic needs to be done. No longer can we sit back and ignore the fact that young people are getting killed. Perhaps if some people stop saying 'it's a black thing' or 'it's an asian thing' and realise that it's everyone's responsibility then we can stop all the madness of kids killing kids.

kev, london says...
8:17am Tue 8 Jul 08

All this can be stoped at a stroke,bring back the rope.But that takes guts for any politician to suggest such a action.Only the BNP has the guts to call for it,and thats why there gaining votes at every election,and thats why thay get mine.desprate measures for desprate times.

Jock, London says...
4:05pm Tue 8 Jul 08

kev wrote:
All this can be stoped at a stroke,bring back the rope.But that takes guts for any politician to suggest such a action.Only the BNP has the guts to call for it,and thats why there gaining votes at every election,and thats why thay get mine.desprate measures for desprate times.
The BNP will do nothing, because they'll never get the chance.

I for one, do not want the country run by cloak and dagger thugs.

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