AN investigation is under way into how police investigated a stabbing linked to the killers of 16-year-old Shakilus Townsend.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has confirmed it is investigating how the Met handled an investigation into the stabbing and wounding of a man in Thornton Heath on January 22, five months before Shakilus was killed.

Shakilus, of Tanners Hill, Deptford, was set upon by members of the Shine My Nine gang in Thornton Heath on July 3 last year.

He was beaten with a baseball bat, kicked and stabbed several times after being lured to his death by “honey trap” Samantha Joseph, who was 15 at the time.

Seven teenagers from Croydon were found guilty of murder following an Old Bailey trial and are awaiting sentence.

A report in The Daily Mirror claims Don Carlos Ellis, 18, and Michael Akinfenwa, 17, both found guilty of killing Shakilus, should have been held by police over the January incident.

It claims their street names Rugrat and Spekta were given to police in Croydon but officers failed to trace them or log the suspects’ details correctly.

A spokesman for the IPCC said the Met referred the case after intelligence linked the two crimes.

He said: “The IPCC investigation is nearing conclusion and the findings will be disclosed in due course.”