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| The hidden lives of knife-crime victims | The hidden lives of knife-crime victims |
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| Isaiah Ekpaloba’s funeral cost his mother the last penny of her savings, with more than 1,000 people attending the service for the popular 18-year-old. | Isaiah Ekpaloba’s funeral cost his mother the last penny of her savings, with more than 1,000 people attending the service for the popular 18-year-old. |
| Ekpaloba’s mother, Grace, now says she has nothing left, even for a small memorial or a tree to be planted in his memory. “We have nowhere to lay flowers. You can’t save for things like this, you don’t plan for someone dying,” she said. | Ekpaloba’s mother, Grace, now says she has nothing left, even for a small memorial or a tree to be planted in his memory. “We have nowhere to lay flowers. You can’t save for things like this, you don’t plan for someone dying,” she said. |
| Related: Teenage victims of knife crime in London this year – their stories | |
| The 18-year-old was killed on 9 January 2015, but was already the third teenage victim of knife crime in London, after the deaths of Jeremie Malenge, 18, and Bilal Mirza, 17. Fifteen teenagers have been knifed to death in London so far this year, 19 murdered in total. | The 18-year-old was killed on 9 January 2015, but was already the third teenage victim of knife crime in London, after the deaths of Jeremie Malenge, 18, and Bilal Mirza, 17. Fifteen teenagers have been knifed to death in London so far this year, 19 murdered in total. |
| In all of 2014, there were 11 teens murdered. The rise in fatal stabbings involving teenagers follows several years in which knife crime had been falling in the capital. In statistics released by the justice ministry on Thursday, number of offenders punished for carrying a knife rose by 7% in the last year as the police and courts take a tougher approach especially to teenage offenders. | In all of 2014, there were 11 teens murdered. The rise in fatal stabbings involving teenagers follows several years in which knife crime had been falling in the capital. In statistics released by the justice ministry on Thursday, number of offenders punished for carrying a knife rose by 7% in the last year as the police and courts take a tougher approach especially to teenage offenders. |
| Ekpaloba was close to his mother, the two even shared a bed until he was 12 years old. “He didn’t like to sleep alone,” his mother said. He was an aspiring rapper, known as Profit to his friends and his 1,000 Twitter followers, who toured in a play with the north London theatre company Chickenshed about the dangers of knife crime. | Ekpaloba was close to his mother, the two even shared a bed until he was 12 years old. “He didn’t like to sleep alone,” his mother said. He was an aspiring rapper, known as Profit to his friends and his 1,000 Twitter followers, who toured in a play with the north London theatre company Chickenshed about the dangers of knife crime. |
| Related: More offenders being punished for carrying knives, latest figures show | |
| But Grace was not around for her son’s formative years, spending five of them in prison in Ecuador. “We only spoke on the telephone and on Facebook; I was released only in time for the funeral. I arrived home on the Friday and I went to the mortuary to see my son’s body on the Monday. I hadn’t seen him for five years. I said to the police officer, ‘are you one million per cent sure that’s my son?’” | But Grace was not around for her son’s formative years, spending five of them in prison in Ecuador. “We only spoke on the telephone and on Facebook; I was released only in time for the funeral. I arrived home on the Friday and I went to the mortuary to see my son’s body on the Monday. I hadn’t seen him for five years. I said to the police officer, ‘are you one million per cent sure that’s my son?’” |
| “I couldn’t even look at him at first. I was crying too much. I touched him and his body was so icy cold. I just wanted to put a jacket on him.” | “I couldn’t even look at him at first. I was crying too much. I touched him and his body was so icy cold. I just wanted to put a jacket on him.” |
| Jaydee Dorsett, 20, murdered Ekpaloba in a “violent and sustained knife fight” at his flat in Wood Green after a botched robbery by Ekpaloba and an associate, a court heard in July. Grace accepts that her son made mistakes in his short life but said it was wrong to label his death as gang crime. | Jaydee Dorsett, 20, murdered Ekpaloba in a “violent and sustained knife fight” at his flat in Wood Green after a botched robbery by Ekpaloba and an associate, a court heard in July. Grace accepts that her son made mistakes in his short life but said it was wrong to label his death as gang crime. |
| “He wasn’t in a gang, he just made one bad friendship, as far as I can see,” she said. “He was painted in the media to be this horrible person, but he wasn’t, he was so kind and giving. If you felt down, he would give you one of those hugs where you could just melt into his arms.” | “He wasn’t in a gang, he just made one bad friendship, as far as I can see,” she said. “He was painted in the media to be this horrible person, but he wasn’t, he was so kind and giving. If you felt down, he would give you one of those hugs where you could just melt into his arms.” |
| Nine months after Ekpaloba’s death, 17-year-old Marcel Addai was stabbed to death after being chased by a gang of up to 15 people on a Hoxton housing estate. Like Ekpaloba and his work with Chickenshed, Addai had harboured ambitions of warning others of the dangers of carrying knives and wanted to become a youth worker after university. | Nine months after Ekpaloba’s death, 17-year-old Marcel Addai was stabbed to death after being chased by a gang of up to 15 people on a Hoxton housing estate. Like Ekpaloba and his work with Chickenshed, Addai had harboured ambitions of warning others of the dangers of carrying knives and wanted to become a youth worker after university. |
| “He had seen a lot of things in his life in the local area and he wanted to help children, people like him,” his grandmother, June, said. | “He had seen a lot of things in his life in the local area and he wanted to help children, people like him,” his grandmother, June, said. |
| “He had a heart of gold, that boy. The day he died, he was helping his little sister with her homework. He was very protective of her, they were very close because she’s only eight. Now she is always asking, ‘why is my brother not coming home?’” | “He had a heart of gold, that boy. The day he died, he was helping his little sister with her homework. He was very protective of her, they were very close because she’s only eight. Now she is always asking, ‘why is my brother not coming home?’” |
| Addai’s grandmother said she has days where she is overwhelmed by anger. “People think these are just boys in gangs, that they’re all bad, but these boys have families,” she said. “It’s their lives too. It’s got to stop. It’s happening too much, every day it seems like there has been more deaths. But each one is a person. No one has the right to take a life away.” | Addai’s grandmother said she has days where she is overwhelmed by anger. “People think these are just boys in gangs, that they’re all bad, but these boys have families,” she said. “It’s their lives too. It’s got to stop. It’s happening too much, every day it seems like there has been more deaths. But each one is a person. No one has the right to take a life away.” |
| Grace’s and June’s pain at the portrayal of their boys after their murders is one familiar to Temi Mwale, who founded Get Outta The Gang, an award-winning youth charity, after a close friend was killed when they were both teenagers. | Grace’s and June’s pain at the portrayal of their boys after their murders is one familiar to Temi Mwale, who founded Get Outta The Gang, an award-winning youth charity, after a close friend was killed when they were both teenagers. |
| “The narrative of gang involvement and crime creates a hierarchy of death, where some murders evoke sympathy and some young people ‘deserve to be killed’,” she said. “The root causes of the crime and ‘gangs’ are never referred to, so it is irresponsible to report ‘gang involvement’ without the full context.” | “The narrative of gang involvement and crime creates a hierarchy of death, where some murders evoke sympathy and some young people ‘deserve to be killed’,” she said. “The root causes of the crime and ‘gangs’ are never referred to, so it is irresponsible to report ‘gang involvement’ without the full context.” |
| The charity is helping Grace raise money for a memorial to Ekpaloba, with a crowdfunding campaign and a fundraising concert in east London this weekend. “No parent expects to bury their child; families do not prepare for this, and so often cannot afford to,” Mwale said. | The charity is helping Grace raise money for a memorial to Ekpaloba, with a crowdfunding campaign and a fundraising concert in east London this weekend. “No parent expects to bury their child; families do not prepare for this, and so often cannot afford to,” Mwale said. |
| “After a youth murder, families often feel inadequate for not having been able to protect their child. With pain and grief, the feeling of inadequacy is only furthered by not being able to provide their child with dignity in death, due to financial constraints.” | “After a youth murder, families often feel inadequate for not having been able to protect their child. With pain and grief, the feeling of inadequacy is only furthered by not being able to provide their child with dignity in death, due to financial constraints.” |
| Families of knife-crime victims react in different ways, Mwale said, some retreating from the media spotlight in grief, others turn their anger to campaigning. | Families of knife-crime victims react in different ways, Mwale said, some retreating from the media spotlight in grief, others turn their anger to campaigning. |
| Cherrie Smith, sister of 15-year-old Alan Cartwright, who was stabbed to death on 27 February, has become a vocal advocate for tougher stop-and-search tactics | Cherrie Smith, sister of 15-year-old Alan Cartwright, who was stabbed to death on 27 February, has become a vocal advocate for tougher stop-and-search tactics |
| A passionate cyclist and army cadet, Cartwright was riding down Caledonian Road in Islington when he was stabbed in the chest by 18-year-old Joshua Williams as he tried to steal his bike. Williams has been sentenced to life in prison. | A passionate cyclist and army cadet, Cartwright was riding down Caledonian Road in Islington when he was stabbed in the chest by 18-year-old Joshua Williams as he tried to steal his bike. Williams has been sentenced to life in prison. |
| “He loved his bikes, he was always on one. His ambitions were definitely along the line of bicycles and motorbikes – he could look at a bike, take it apart and completely fix it back together again within 15 minutes,” Smith said on her brother. | “He loved his bikes, he was always on one. His ambitions were definitely along the line of bicycles and motorbikes – he could look at a bike, take it apart and completely fix it back together again within 15 minutes,” Smith said on her brother. |
| Campaigning for a tougher police response on knife crime is one way the family can try to cope, Smith said. “As a family, we want his name to live on in the best way possible and help children and young adults away from knife crime, to turn my brother’s death into something we can all live for,” she said. | Campaigning for a tougher police response on knife crime is one way the family can try to cope, Smith said. “As a family, we want his name to live on in the best way possible and help children and young adults away from knife crime, to turn my brother’s death into something we can all live for,” she said. |
| The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has recently ordered an increase in the use of stop and search in certain areas. The controversial tactic had been in decline since 2011, after government research found it had no measurable impact and had a massively disproportionate effect on minority-ethnic communities. | The Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, has recently ordered an increase in the use of stop and search in certain areas. The controversial tactic had been in decline since 2011, after government research found it had no measurable impact and had a massively disproportionate effect on minority-ethnic communities. |
| The right help is not always available for the families and friends left behind, Mwale said. The standard bereavement service that families have access to tend not to deal with specific issues surrounding youth violence and knife crime, leaving many relatives feeling alienated and misunderstood. | The right help is not always available for the families and friends left behind, Mwale said. The standard bereavement service that families have access to tend not to deal with specific issues surrounding youth violence and knife crime, leaving many relatives feeling alienated and misunderstood. |
| “Counselling is only provided for immediate family members – as a friend, you may have had four or five friends violently murdered and will not have received help to deal with this,” she said. | “Counselling is only provided for immediate family members – as a friend, you may have had four or five friends violently murdered and will not have received help to deal with this,” she said. |
| “This has created the current situation where whole communities are traumatised, and never given an opportunity to heal before the next murder. Ultimately, this only perpetuates the cycle of violence.” | “This has created the current situation where whole communities are traumatised, and never given an opportunity to heal before the next murder. Ultimately, this only perpetuates the cycle of violence.” |