Death fall boy 'chased by gang'

1:53pm Thursday 21st August 2008

A boy fell to his death from a block of flats after apparently being chased by a gang of knife-wielding youths the day before he had been due to collect his GCSEs.

The 16-year-old, named only as Ahmed, was pronounced dead at the scene on Wednesday afternoon just a few metres away from his school gates in Hackney, east London.

His headteacher said the school was "shocked and devastated" by Ahmed's death.

Richard Brown, of Hackney Free and Parochial Secondary School, said: "Ahmed's only been here a year. The great achievement is he achieved 9 GCSEs. I've spoken to his family this morning and they are most proud of the fact that he got a C in maths and a C in science. He also got two other C grades.

"Family members came in and found out about his results but not his parents because they were too upset. The family is shocked and devastated. His tutor said to me he never would have expected Ahmed to be involved in this sort of incident."

Mr Brown said Ahmed's death may have been gang-related.

Neighbours near the block of flats said they thought the boy had been chased by youths with knives.

One said: "I've heard that he saw a gang chasing someone else and he thought they were carrying knives. Apparently when he saw the knives he started to run towards the flats and the gang chased him."

Police took up positions outside the flats in Paragon Road and flowers were laid with tributes to Ahmed.

A Yard spokesman said: "At this early stage, we believe he had fallen from a block of flats. One line of inquiry officers are investigating is that the boy may have been chased prior to the fall."