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London: London is experiencing an epidemic of knife crime with 18 teenagers stabbed to death this year and two French students murdered in a brutal attack, leaving police apparently powerless to stop it.
Shakilus Townsend, 16, became the latest statistic yesterday when he died in hospital of injuries from an attack carried out by a gang of teenagers, including a girl.
"This is another senseless incident in which a young life has been taken away by a knife," said Detective Chief Inspector Cliff Lyons.
As police investigated that case, hardened murder squad detectives were still shocked by the deaths of Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, the French science students who were bound, stabbed more than 250 times and set on fire in a flat in the tough New Cross area of southeast London.
"I have never seen injuries like this throughout my career," said Detective Chief Inspector Mick Duthie.
Burglary
Detectives investigating the savage murder of two French students in London released details yesterday of items stolen from the flat where they were bound, stabbed and burned.
Police said a black Packard Bell laptop was taken in a burglary a week before the murders, while two Sony handheld games consoles were stolen last Sunday when Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez were murdered.
The 23-year-olds were bound, repeatedly stabbed and left in the blazing flat in New Cross, southeast London. Bonomo had been stabbed nearly 200 times, while his friend received nearly 50 knife wounds.
"We are keen to hear from anyone who has recently been offered a laptop and two personal game consoles, or knows someone who has unexpectedly come to have them," said Detective Chief Inspector Mick Duthie.
Police have received about 25 calls from the public after appealing for witnesses.
Professor David Canter, professor of psychology at the University of Liverpool, said detectives were left with a confusing and difficult crime scene.
Ferocity
"The ferocity of the killings is not typical of experienced criminals who want to get away as soon as they can," he wrote in The Times. "It points more to a confused mixture of habitual criminality and disinhibited anger."
The bio-engineering students were taking part in a three-month DNA project at Imperial College London. Its rector Professor Sir Roy Anderson said the pair "had bright futures ahead of them", adding: "It is dreadful that their lives should end so soon."
While the circumstances differ, the weapon is the same - that most low-tech of devices, the knife, often taken from a kitchen drawer.
The despair of victims' families was summed up by Brooke Kinsella, a former star of the popular TV soap EastEnders, whose 16-year-old brother Ben was knifed to death after an argument outside a bar in north London on June 29.
"Please, please let us learn from Ben and every other child that has been stolen from us," she urged at an emotionally-charged news conference.
"We always knew Ben would make a special mark in the world, and although this is in the worst possible circumstances, hopefully he will be the one that finally puts an end to this."
Her wish was crushed within days, as on Townsend was attacked Thursday.
Violent attacks
He was the 18th teenager killed in violent attacks in London this year, one more than at this time in 2007 - but it is the increase in knife attacks which is causing concern.
London's new mayor Boris Johnson has made tackling the issue a priority and he revealed this week that more than 1,200 people had been arrested in a six-week-long crackdown, codenamed "Operation Blunt 2," with 528 knives recovered in 26,777 searches.
But the mayor admitted the best advice he could give to children was to avoid trouble.
"Whatever you do, if you see a fight in the street, don't risk it because someone could have a knife. I'm saying to kids: don't get involved, move away," Johnson said.
Police said yesterday it was increasing the number of officers in the areas of London most affected by establishing a 75-strong "taskforce".
Criminologist Professor David Wilson, of Birmingham City University, in west central England, said confiscating knives was only a short-term solution.
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