Teenager stabbed to death in Woolwich, London

A teenage boy has been stabbed to death in southeast London.

Police were called to reports of a disturbance on Eglinton Road, Woolwich, at about 6.30pm on Sunday.

The boy was found at the scene with a stab injury and, despite the efforts of officers and paramedics at the scene, he died a short time later.

A witness, who has lived in the area for 14 years and did not wish to be named, has described how she tried to save the victim as he lay in the road outside her flat.

The 43-year-old said she dashed out of her house in her nightshirt with nothing on her feet after hearing screaming "from across the road saying 'someone's been stabbed, someone's been stabbed'.

Speaking by the police cordon at the crime scene, she said she "grabbed a sheet, I had no shoes or socks on or anything, and I just literally ran to where just near where the [forensics] tent is, and there was someone laying face down on the floor.

"I turned him over, he had a gash in his head and I thought 'that's not bleeding enough'.

"His leg moved and there was a massive pool of blood, so I just stemmed the flow of blood until the paramedics got here."

After returning to her flat to shower, she told police the boy pleaded: "'I'm 15, I'm 15, don't let me die' and I said to him 'you're not going to die, mate'."

His next of kin have been informed.

No arrests have been made and a crime scene is in place, the Metropolitan Police said.

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Pictures have been published of officers on duty at a taped-off area at the junction of Eglinton Road and Paget Terrace.

Sir Keir Starmer has said reducing knife crime is a "moral mission" for the Labour government.

Figures published by the party showed knife-related offences had risen by 81% since 2015 across England and Wales.

(c) Sky News 2024: Teenager stabbed to death in Woolwich, London