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The bus stop where the attack took place |
Passengers flee stabbing on bus
Police hunt for pair who followed victim on bikes before vicious knife attack
A GANG feud resulted in the stabbing of a young man on the top deck of a busy bus on Sunday afternoon.
Police revealed last night (Thursday) that two youths are now being sought over the attack and the victim, 20, is still “at risk” of being attacked in his hospital bed.
The stabbing happened on a 43 bus, the same route and exactly the same place where Richard Whelan was stabbed to death almost two years ago.
On Sunday, two youths on BMX bikes followed the double decker down Holloway Road after spotting a rival sitting at the back of the top deck.
They caught up with the bus at the stop outside the Union Chapel on Upper Street and one youth kept a watch over the bikes while the other boarded the bus at the front doors.
Detective Sergeant Mick Craighill, who is leading the investigation, said: “He went straight upstairs and stabbed him. There was a small struggle and then the (attacker) walked calmly off the bus.”
No one came to the man’s aid, with the entire top deck full of passengers leaving the bus in fright, while the two youths made their escape by pedalling up Laycock Street.
Using a special emergency radio frequency, the driver called police almost the moment the attacker had boarded the bus.
Mike Greenwood, 40, assistant manager of Oddbins opposite the bus stop, said: “As soon as the bus pulled up at the stop, the driver put on the hazard lights.
“Then one police car turned up, followed by at least two more and an ambulance. There was also a doctor in a blue emergency car.
“You could clearly see one of the paramedics in the bus and a policeman, whose back was almost sticking out through the back window of the top deck.
“You could also see the back of the victim’s head, who they stretchered off in an ambulance.
“The police taped the whole area off as a crime scene and shortly afterwards police dogs were searching the gardens behind Compton Terrace.”
The victim, who is believed to be from Highbury, was taken to a north London hospital where he remains in a serious but stable condition.
For fear of recriminations, he is remaining tight-lipped to investigators about what the feud was over.
Detectives are refusing to reveal the name of the hospital over safety fears.
A police source said: “People are looking for him. Let’s just say that there’s the potential for further attacks on this individual.”
An 18-year-old youth has been bailed over the attack but police say if no one is charged within a week they will release CCTV footage from the bus.
Since the arrest, a house in Islington has been searched and “various items” seized for forensic examination. But no weapon has yet been recovered.
Sunday’s stabbing has eerie echoes of the attack on Richard Whelan in July 2005 where the hospitality agent was stabbed to death on the top deck of a 43 bus heading north up Holloway Road.
Mr Whelan, 28, from Kentish Town, was knifed after trying to stop a man throwing chips at passengers as he returned from a night out with his girlfriend.
Anthony Leon Joseph is awaiting a retrial over the killing after jurors failed to agree a verdict.
DS Craighill is urging witnesses to come forward and promises to treat their information in the strictest confidence.
The suspect is mixed race, in his late teens or early 20s, medium height, medium build and wore dark clothing.
Witnesses to the attack are asked to call Islington CID on 0207 421 0350 or, to remain anonymous, Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. |
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