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UK teen killed outside school
19/05/2006 15:15 - (SA)
London - Police were hunting on Friday for the killer of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death outside his London school in front of fellow pupils and teachers.
It was reported the boy, Kiyan Prince, was a son of a teacher who was killed after he stepped in to break up a fight at the school's gate.
He was also a youth team player at the London Championship club Queens Park Rangers.
The killing came a week before the launch of a knife amnesty and had reopened the question of whether schools needed to increase their security.
Prince was fatally wounded outside the London Academy in Edgware, northwest London, as pupils were going home on Thursday afternoon. He was taken to hospital, but died later from his wounds.
School staff, kids devastated
Police wanted to speak to a 16-year-old black boy seen running away from the incident and to the dozens of people in the area at the time.
Head of youth Joe Gallen said: "He was a great lad, a terrific prospect and it's a huge setback for everyone that knew him."
Chairman Gianni Paladini said the club would do everything it could to help the family through "this terrible time".
The school's principal Phil Hearne said staff and children were devastated.
He said: "This was a lovely young man. He was looked up to by youngsters here, terribly well respected, an extremely reliable, hard working, bright young man - a natural born leader."
Knife crime 'getting worse'
Barnet police superintendent Mark Ricketts said schools should perhaps consider airport-style security checks.
He said: "Knife crime is getting everywhere. Maybe we need to start making some rather extraordinary decisions. Maybe we need... the kind of apparatus you see at airports."
Barnet council leader Mike Freer said lessons needed to be learnt from the killing, but that he would not want to see schools being turned into fortresses.
He said: "It's a tragic event and our thoughts are with the families and also the school, which is in a state of shock.
"We have to consider everything ... but I think ... we have to remind ourselves that schools are not fortresses, they are places of education.
"We need to try and make sure that our schools stay safe - but they are still schools at the end of the day."
- Reuters
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