A “model” student killed in a knife attack in London dreamt of
becoming a police detective, his grieving family said yesterday.
Yusufu Miiro, a criminology student at Middlesex University, was one of six
people murdered in knife attacks on Thursday.
It was the bloodiest day so far in the spate of knife crimes that has swept
across Britain and is causing deep unease in Downing Street. Senior Scotland
Yard detectives are baffled by the number of attacks.
Miiro, 20, was stabbed in the head and chest in the stairwell of a block of
flats in Walthamstow, northeast London. He had left his girlfriend’s flat to
collect takeaway food when he was attacked by a man wearing a white “Scream”
mask.
He staggered back to the flat and collapsed inside. Miiro had come to Britain
from Uganda in 2002. He had been living in Leyton, east London, with his
stepfather and two stepbrothers and sisters.
Yesterday, he was described by relatives as a “model student” who had always
done his best to stay out of trouble. Yusef Nsubuga, his stepfather, paid an
emotional tribute.
“My son was a good person. He was always a polite and obedient person. He
never caused trouble with anyone . . . I have not seen his body yet. I want
to know what really happened,” he said.
Fatima Kabasinguzi, a relative, said: “He was always a very good person. He
never got into a fight. He was never involved in any gangs. If he ever saw
trouble he would just run away from it. He was also a very good student. He
studied very hard. He had an interest in crime. He wanted to be a detective,
a policeman. We want to know who murdered this innocent boy, and we want the
killer brought to justice.”
Miiro was one of four people murdered in knife attacks in London on Thursday.
There were also knife murders in West Bromwich and Merseyside the same day.
Adnan Patel, a construction worker, died from a single stab wound to the
chest in Leyton, east London.
Witnesses said he was fatally wounded during a fight between a group of men
involving golf clubs, baseball bats and knives. Patel’s family said he was
“a good man who did nothing wrong”. Scotland Yard is investigating
whether the incident was drugs related.
Genadijs Jaronis, a 42-year-old Latvian, was found with head injuries and stab
wounds outside a disused pub in north London where he was squatting.
The fourth victim was Melvin Bryan, 18, who died from stab wounds to the neck
and chest after a fight in Edmonton, north London. Yesterday would have been
his 19th birthday. He became the 20th teenager to be murdered by a knife in
London this year.
Outside the capital, Thomas Coombes Duffield, 20, a father-to-be, was
repeatedly stabbed in the stomach after an argument in a street in West
Bromwich, West Midlands. Anthony de Asha, a fireman, was arrested on
suspicion of murdering his wife Joanne after she was found stabbed in their
Crosby home.
Thursday’s death toll follows a spate of high-profile knife murders. They
include Shakilus Townsend, 16, who was set upon by a gang in a suspected
“honeytrap” killing; Ben Kinsella, 16, who died as he tried to break up a
fight outside a bar; Rob Knox, an 18-year-old Harry Potter film actor; and
Jimmy Mizen, 16, a former altar boy.
Last night police charged a second man, Daniel Sonnex, with the murders of
French students Laurent Bonomo, and Gabriel Ferez in south London.
An insight into the way young men use knives has emerged from a study of
offenders in Parc youth offenders’ institution in Wales. Luke, 20, from
Bristol, told The Guardian newspaper how he was carrying a small blade in
his pocket when he became involved in a drunken confrontation with a group
of youths in a kebab shop.
One of them hit him. “I just whacked straight back at him and the blade went
straight in his eyeball and blinded him. And that’s the biggest mistake of
my life,” he said.
Martin, 19, described how he challenged a man outside a house party over a
missing mobile phone. There was a brief fight and Martin ran back into the
house and grabbed a knife.
“As I went outside I pulled the knife out and he just come running towards me.
As I swung for him I stabbed him in his shoulder. I was so off it I went
back into the house to the party. I was arrested about 10 minutes later,” he
recalled.
Scotland Yard has set up a 75-strong taskforce to fight knife crime, although
senior officers say they cannot explain the sudden surge in incidents. “It
just seems that this has escalated uncontrollably. It seems to be
particularly concentrated in London. But we can find absolutely no reason
for it,” said one.
Ministers have announced a rash of new policies and a £3m advertising
campaign. The maximum sentence for carrying a knife will be doubled from two
to four years.
Last month Gordon Brown announced that anyone over 16 caught with a knife
would be automatically prosecuted.
Police have been given extra cash to buy mobile metal-detecting knife arches
to be placed outside pubs, clubs and schools to deter knife-carrying. The
measures have had little impact.
Figures out this week are expected to show an overall fall in violent crime in
the past year, but that will do little to allay the growing sense of public
anxiety about “broken Britain”.
This weekend the Tories produced figures showing that there has been a 21%
increase in homicides since Labour came to power.
David Ruffley, the shadow minister for police reform, said there was also a
29% rise in those killed by sharp instruments, such as knives, from 200 in
1997 to 258 in 2006-07. In a sign of growing government alarm, Jacqui Smith,
the home secretary, will announce a fresh range of measures during a
television interview today.
One of her suggestions will be that those convicted of carrying knives should
be forced to visit hospital accident and emergency units to be confronted
with knife victims.
Her proposal is likely to be condemned as insensitive by doctors and patients’
groups. Fatima Kabasinguzi, Miiro’s relative, said it was misguided.
“I don’t think this will work, because it’s the way kids are brought up,”
Kabasinguzi said. “With these kids, even if they see people dying, they
won’t stop carrying knives.”
Nsubuga said: “Just taking people to hospital isn’t going to stop
them from carrying knives. What you need is proper jail sentences and
prisons where they experience hardship.
“At the moment they go into prison and get free TVs, free food. Prison should
be really tough. The government needs to be far tougher. If I see the man
who did this then all I would want him to be is dead.”
Mirro was a friend of mine, a polite and generous young man. Him being stabbed was unexpected. The measures westminister proposes will do nothing to curve the problem. Killing is normal to modern society, there is a complete disregard for human life... we need tougher measures in place.
Chrispas Kalule, London , UK
PR - think deeper. More people from ethnic minorities live in greater poverty as a % of the population, so are more likely to get involved in crime (but have a similar likelihood as a white person from the same background). Add in a celebrity obsessed culture where money is the key to respect...
Tim Skinner, Walthamstow, UK
Out of the twenty persons shown as knife victims i can't help noticing that 17 or 85% are from ethnic backgrounds. Is this just a coincidence or am I being racist!
PR, Manchester,
The open invitation to persons to flood in to the u.k. has changed the entire country's culture.The use of knives to settle any trivial dispute is just one aspect. However it is no use shutting the gates now it is to late.An arbitary 5 years for posession might be worth a try.
david john looker, leicestershire, u.k.
Why should only those over the age of 16 be prosecuted for carrying knives? Any age regardless should carry a 'tough' penalty/sentence (get the message out now). Oh! and stuff their human rights, worst thing our country ever did, that is where all our problems started from the Human Rights Act.
Kerry Horsman-Gray, Rugby, Warks
Gordon Brown says prosecute automatically anyone with a knife and the maximum snetence is to be increased from2 to 4 yrs. Jacqui Smith says that the way is for offender and victim to confront eachother. Does this govt have any cohesion on the problem? Knives and guns are synonymous. And parents???
Patrick, Taipei, Taiwan
We all need to instinctively react to the threat of knives- back away, run away. Too much Have a Go and too much bravado- it is better to be alive and run away than to stand and be killed senselessly. I have twice decided discretion is the better part of valour.
David, London, UK