A teenager who died after being stabbed outside a tube station last Friday has been named as Malcolm Mide-Madariola, 17, from Peckham, south-east London, police said on Sunday.
The student was attacked at about 4.30pm on Balham Hill outside Clapham South station, London, and died in hospital.
The death followed that of Jay Hughes, 15, who was fatally stabbed at in a “premeditated attack” near a chicken shop in Randlesdown Road, Bellingham, south-east London, at about 5.20pm on Thursday.
Detective Chief Inspector John Massey, of the homicide and major crime command, said Mide-Madariola was stabbed a few minutes after an altercation between two groups of boys.
“We are confident that our investigation will lead us to the person or people responsible, but we do need to speak with more witnesses and I am appealing for anyone with information to come forward.”
Flowers were laid near the south-west London station for Malcolm.
A 17-year-old girl, who asked not to be named, described him as a hard-working boy, adding: “He was sweet and nice and he always used to message me if he knew I was sad.” Hughes’ family paid tribute to him, saying he was “very bright and brilliant at art.”
London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the two deaths were a terrible waste of young lives, as he offered condolences to the families. The Metropolitan police have not made any arrests in the cases as yet.
The fatalities came as debate continued over the effect of police budget cuts and how officers should focus their resources.
The Met police commissioner, Cressida Dick, said on Friday that “stretched” forces had to prioritise serious violence and drug gangs rather than non-criminal acts, such as misogyny.
Khan has previously blamed rising violence on the £700m cuts to the Met’s budget over seven years, which could be followed by further reductions.
On Friday, he announced the latest measure in a “public health approach” to tackling violence, with a review of the most serious offences since 2014 to discover the trends behind attacks.
