Teenager was fatally stabbed as he stepped off 202 bus in Lee (From News Shopper)

Teenager was fatally stabbed as he stepped off 202 bus in Burnt Ash Road, Lee

4:13pm Sunday 16th September 2012 in News By Robert Fisk

LAST night’s fatal stabbing of a teenager as he got off a bus less than half a mile from where Jimmy Mizen was murdered four years ago has been labelled a ‘shocking state of affairs’.

The 14-year-old boy, who has not been named, was attacked as he got off the 202 bus in Burnt Ash Road, Lee, at about 9.45pm yesterday.

Emergency services were called and he was taken to hospital where he later died.

Officers are trying to establish if there was some sort of argument on the bus which led to the stabbing.

Old Tigers Head landlord Adrian Straatman called 999 from his pub in Lee High Road after hearing an emergency message from the bus.

Mr Straatman said: “There was quite a bit of commotion and an alarm kept repeating ‘This bus is under attack, please call 999’.

“I saw the ambulance crews working on the boy up the street and we were later told that he died.

“It is shocking that a 14-year-old has been killed.

“There was Jimmy Mizen killed in the bakery and this is now the second one in this area.

“It is a shocking state of affairs and a shocking indictment of our culture at the moment and how are the police going to deal with the knifing culture?”

And pub customer Julius Zapolskis, 40, said: “My wife and I chose to move here because a couple of years ago it was nice and such a quiet area but now we are thinking of selling our place in Lee High Road and moving to the countryside because everything is getting worse and worse.

“I have been in the army and I know how to kill so I’m not scared of the youths but I’m scared of what could happen to my wife and granddaughter.

“Sometimes my wife takes my granddaughter to the park and there are some boys aged 15 and 16 hanging around and you never know if something will happen and they will get attacked.”

Investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Mark Dunne from the Met’s homicide and serious crime command unit is appealing for witnesses to the incident.

He said: “We are building up intelligence about the moments before the stabbing and what happened next.

“There were a number of young people on the bus who witnessed this, some of them have already come forward and I need all of the remaining people to give me a call.

"I would also like to speak to anyone who was in Burnt Ash Road, where the victim got off the bus.

“I need to know what the series of events were which culminated in a 14-year-old boy losing his life."

Mr Dunne says his officers have yet to find the murder weapon but have arrested three teenage boys in connection with the stabbing.

They are all being questioned at south London police stations.

Anyone who witnessed what happened is asked to call DCI Dunne on 020 8721 4906.