A teenager stabbed to death in London on Sunday, has been described as a churchgoer who was "never in trouble", according to his family's pastor. Peter Hagan, 16, died while reportedly trying to escape a fight at a block of flats in Wandsworth.
He was discovered in the stairwell after police were called to Albon House in Neville Gill Close, Wandsworth, at 1.30am on Sunday morning. The teenager was pronounced dead at the scene and a murder investigation has been launched and an incident room has opened in Sutton, south London, under Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola of the homicide and serious crime command.
Nine people have been arrested in connection with the inquiry, eight of them have been released on bail. The teenager is believed to have been attending a party in the tower block in the hours before his death, police said.
Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, said:
"I need to trace everyone at that party, and in particular I am appealing for any information about a group of between five and eight males seen running from the scene into the surrounding streets and possibly through King George's Park."
The teenager's pastor Revd Dr. Rosemarie Mallett from Angell Town, St John the Evangelist Church in Brixton has been speaking on Premier's News Hour. She's told Des Busteed Peter was a big part of the church community:
His Uncle Akee Noah, 50, had known Peter from the age of five when his sister Yvonne Noah fostered him. He told reporters that Peter, a construction student at South Thames College, went to church every Sunday. Mr Noah said he liked to play football with his friends on the Angell Town estate in Brixton, where he lived with Miss Noah and her two daughters.
He said:
"He was quiet and well-mannered with lots of friends. He was a very good boy.
"Never in trouble, always with my sister at church. She is devastated.
"I think they were in the process of adopting the boy. She loved him as though he was hers."
Mr Noah has called for an end to youth violence in the capital. He said: "I don't understand why this has to happen. It has to stop."
Witnesses or anyone with information are asked to contact the incident room on 020 8721 4005 or call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111.