Prosecutors trying to pin down the killers of a teenager in Penge have hit a dead end because the park he was killed in was not covered by CCTV cameras.

Michael Jonas was stabbed to death in Betts Park in Penge on November 2 last year, but the search for his killers proved fruitless.

Six different teenagers were arrested and charged with murder, but in January the Crown Prosecution Service had to drop the charges.

DCI Richard Leonard, who has been on the case with Met Police, explained the reason why they had to drop it was they lacked the key bits of information.

Speaking to News Shopper, he said: “They felt the evidence we had at the time was highly unlikely to lead to a successfully prosecution.”

Investigators do have footage of a group of men leaving the McDonalds in Anerley Way in Penge on bikes at 7pm that night.

They also have a witness who said they saw Michael Jonas be chased by a number of men on bikes.

The murder itself occurred at 7.20pm in the park, with the 999 call being registered at 7.22pm. However DCI Leonard explained there was a gap they could not fill.

He said: “We do what we have got as we have people who have seen a group of men on bikes but all they have seen is a group of people on bikes, not the chase.

“We don’t have any CCTV or any witnesses who saw them leave the park.

“We can’t see them leaving the park because the entrances aren’t covered by CCTV.

“There is no lighting at night. After dark the park is exclusively populated by young males and the odd dog walker. There has been previous crimes in there like stabbings.

“Because we couldn’t physically put them in the park at the time of the murder, we couldn’t push forward with the prosecution.”

That is why, six months down the line, police are empty-handed so have put out a brand new appeal with a £20,000 reward for new information.

DCI Leonard said: “We are interest in people who were in the park that night. I have no doubt we have other people who were in the park that night.

“There are maybe one or two people who just happened to be there at the time, maybe their loyalties could change over the past few months. If you don’t ask and all that.”

Anyone with information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8721 4843, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.