Five held in teenage murder inquiry

8:20pm Sunday 6th July 2008

Five people have been arrested in connection with the murder of Shakilus Townsend.

Two men aged 22 and 18, and two teenage boys aged 16 and 17, and a 16-year-old girl have been arrested in connection with his death. All five are being questioned at south London police stations.

Shakilus, 16, was stabbed and beaten with a baseball bat in an attack in Thornton Heath, south London, on Thursday.

He was taken to hospital but died the next day.

One line of inquiry detectives are following is that the attack was sparked by a row over a girl.

Floral tributes and cards have been left at the scene where the boy died, where relatives including his parents Nicola and Derek gathered on Saturday.

Residents living near the scene, who desperately tried to save him, mingled with his friends and relatives.

The arrests came after Shakilus' stepmother, who would not be named, called for violent teenager criminals to be sent to Iraq.

She said: "There's no punishment and that's why the children do what they do. We as parents are very angry because nothing is being done and every single day we're burying a child. When these youths commit these crimes they must be sent to Iraq."

Shakilus is the 18th teenager to die violently in London this year.