Two teenagers, including 19-year-old student Hassan Kul Hawadleh, were stabbed to death just hours apart in London.

Hassan Kul Hawadleh, was killed on a petrol station forecourt after being set upon by a group of five youths in Wealdstone, north London.

In a separate incident, three hours later, an 18-year-old man who has not been named, was fatally stabbed outside Maryland railway station in a suspected gang attack in east London.

They are the second and third teenagers to die violently in the capital so far this year. Police and politicians tentively claimed to be making inroads into the youth murder problem, which saw 28 teenagers killed in 2008, after seeing a reduction in the rate on the previous year.

Intrusive stop-and-search powers are being used, alongside knife arches and search wands to detect weapons. The measures have resulted in 7,960 arrests and the recovery of 4,439 knives since being launched last Spring.

“This is the news we have been dreading,” said one Scotland Yard source. “We have made great strides but every death is one too many.”

Somali teenager Hassan had stopped to fill up his car with petrol at the Total service station when he and a friend were set upon.

Friends of the pair claimed today that they were the latest victims of a simmering feud between groups of Somali and Afghan youths in the area.

Mr Hawadleh, of Colindale, was described by friends today as “gentle” and a “hard-working” student who may have been targeted simply because he was Somali.

Speaking today his family home in Colindale, north London, Hassan’s sister, Ubed, said: “We have a real problem in society today - stabbing has just become the norm - it has replaced fist fighting. People’s lives are no longer valued.

“He wasn’t the sort of boy to hang out in gangs, he was a sensible character.

“Hassan knew and was loved by lots of people. He was a young, innocent child just getting started on his life. I don’t know why he was killed, I just don’t know what to say about it.”

The brother of the teenager killed at Maryland station, who still has not been named, has spoken of his shock.

He fought back tears and said: “I have no idea why happened or why he was stabbed - no one was after him.

“He was a very popular, nice lad and we were tight. We were all friends.

“I’m proud of my brother and I am just gutted.”

 

Source:Telegraph.co.uk
By Richard Edwards, Crime Correspondent