Croydon knife fight: Teenager dies after arriving at hospital

Officers had been called to reports of a stabbing near West Croydon Railway Station in London Road

A teenage boy has died after taking himself to hospital following a knife fight in south London.

Police responded to reports of a fight near West Croydon Railway station on London Road at 18:41 GMT on Thursday but found no victims or suspects.

Just over 30 minutes later a 14-year-old arrived at a south London hospital with multiple stab wounds. He later died there.

A crime scene remains in place and officers said inquiries were ongoing.

The boy is the 27th teenager to be killed in the capital this year, the highest number since 2017.

Following the killing, campaigners from Croydon's black community demanded a meeting with police and City Hall's Violence Reduction Unit (VRU) to speak about their worries.

Police said they were aware of three stabbings having happened in the area over the last two weeks.

Activists met with police and members of the Violence Reduction Unit at City Hall

Tilisha Goupall, whose brother Jermaine was stabbed to death aged 15, was one of those who attended the meeting.

She told the BBC unprovoked stabbings were causing fear in the community.

Ms Goupall said: "My brother thought he was safe because he wasn't in a gang, he didn't carry a knife, so I know any one of them [schoolchildren] could be targeted."

Cmdr Alex Murray, of Scotland Yard, told the meeting work was needed to build more trust between police and the black community.

He said: "We can take knives off the street, we can take guns off the street... But particularly in the black community, we don't have that trust.

"Walls of silence don't do anyone any good, they just perpetuate the violence."

VRU head Lib Peck called for a "community-powered prevention approach".

She said: "We know we're never going to be able to enforce our way out of this."