Two 14-year-old boys have been arrested for the murder of a doting father who confronted a group of youths in the street.
45-year-old James Markham died on Monday evening (9th August) after reportedly protecting his daughter after boys began swinging metal poles and shouting abuse at her.
“My daughter didn’t know them, one of her friends knew one of them from school,” his wife Candice told the Mirror.
A 999 call was made to the emergency services at around 18:20 hours following reports of a disturbance.
Police officers and paramedics rushed to the scene where they found James, who had been stabbed.
Despite the best efforts of the emergency services and members of the public, James was pronounced dead at the scene.
A post-mortem examination later found he died of a stab wound to the lung.
On Wednesday, detectives arrested a 14-year-old boy on suspicion of murder. A second boy, also 14, was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
Detective Inspector John Marriott, of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said:
“We believe that James confronted a group of youths causing a disturbance and was stabbed as a result.
“The brutality of this response is beyond shocking and our thoughts are with James’ family who have been left devastated by their loss.
“The arrests of these two individuals is a significant development but we still need the public’s help to build a full picture of exactly what happened on Monday evening.
“I know that there were a number of people present at the time of the murder. I want them to come forward.
“I also believe there will be parents who know that their child was there, or was involved. I am appealing for them to do the sensible thing and get in touch with us.
“A dedicated team of officers is working to piece together the tragic circumstances that led to this murder and to bring those responsible to justice.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has information about what took place, is urged to call police on 101 or tweet @MetCC, giving the reference 5735/09AUG.
Information can also be provided to Crimestoppers, anonymously, by calling 0800 555 111.
Before you go, don’t forget to check out our ‘best videos and features’ page by clicking HERE.
Before you go...
We need your help. As former emergency services & armed forces personnel, we pride ourselves on bringing you important, fast-moving and breaking news stories which are free from the negative bias which is often directed at the emergency services by some sections of the mainstream media.
One of the reasons we started 'Emergency Services News' was because we became tired of reading badly informed stories about the emergency services which seemed only ever to highlight negative aspects of the job.
We want to be the unheard voice of the remarkable men and women who serve in the emergency services, NHS and armed forces. And with around 500k page views each month, we are getting there!
As income from ads, the mainstay source of income for most publishers, continues to decline; we need the help of our readers.
And remember, if you have a service, product or job vacancy that you would like to promote to our large readership, then you can buy advertising space in our articles.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
I appreciate getting the facts from those in the know, would love to contribute but don’t do paypal is there another way ie: an address to send cheque or have you means to set up direct debit
forget it only black lives matter.