Police name man stabbed to death in Knightsbridge street
Bouquets of flowers, cards and a blue candle were laid at the site for the victim, who was from Yateley, Hampshire, with one note among the tributes reading: 'We are all absolutely devastated without you. You took a piece of my heart with you.'
Officers attended the scene in Knightsbridge (Lily Shanagher/PA)
Police launched a murder investigation and have said they were investigating reports the incident was an attempted robbery.
Other tributes at the scene said: 'Forever in our hearts. Forever missed', and 'May you rest in peace. Pray for the brokenhearted'.
The incident happened near luxury hotel The Park Tower Knightsbridge but did not involve any guests or staff, according to a Marriott spokesperson.
The pavement surrounding the hotel and adjacent restaurant Nusr-Et – run by Turkish chef Nusret Gokce, aka 'Salt Bae' – was closed off while police investigated.
No arrests have been made and the force said the public can expect to see more officers on patrol in the area.
Our thoughts remain with Blue's loved ones following this tragic incident and they continue to be supported by specialist officers Met Police Commander Christina Jessah
Mr Stevens' next-of-kin are aware and are being supported by specialist officers.
Metropolitan Police Commander Christina Jessah said: 'Our thoughts remain with Blue's loved ones following this tragic incident and they continue to be supported by specialist officers.
'They have asked for their privacy as they come to terms with Blue's death.
'We are working at pace to establish the exact circumstances and advise people avoid speculating while we continue our enquiries.
'We understand the impact this incident has had on the local community and local businesses.
'That is why we have increased the number of police on patrol in the area and I encourage the public to speak to them if they have any questions or concerns.'
People are urged to call police on 0208 721 4961 referencing CAD 8521/09JUL or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 with any information.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Guardian
40 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ice used Marriott chain to detain immigrants, despite hotel's 2019 pledge not to cooperate
A Sheraton hotel in Louisiana has been used by immigration officials to hold people who are being deported, in what appears to be a contradiction of a position Sheraton's parent company, Marriott, took in 2019 when it said its properties would not be used in cooperation with Ice. The Intercept first reported that the hotel, located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana, near a major deportation hub and airport used by Ice, had been used by immigration officials earlier this month to hold a father and his teenage son for four days after their arrest in New York. They were then deported to Ecuador. The Intercept cited phone-tracking evidence that had been shared with the publication and was later seen by the Guardian. The evidence corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told the Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed Ice contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year. The source added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families. It is not clear whether Marriott has a formal contract with Ice or what the company knows about Ice's use of the Sheraton in Alexandria. In one case that emerged last year, Marriott sued a New York-based franchise after the hotel entered a partnership with the city for it to be used as an immigrant shelter, saying it had done so without Marriott's consent. Marriott did not respond to several requests for comment. 'It would be highly unfortunate if major hotel chains are facilitating the Trump administration's cruel policy of deporting families,' said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. In 2019, during Donald Trump's first term, Marriott rejected the idea that any of its hotels or properties – which include Sheraton and Courtyard hotels – would be used by Ice to detain immigrants. It made the statement at a time when the Trump administration was calling for a mass roundup of undocumented immigrants. Citing anonymous sources, ABC News reported at the time that administration officials had internally discussed the possibility that they might need hotel rooms because of limited capacity at Ice detention centers. 'Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well. While we have no particular insights into whether the US government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities,' a company spokesperson said in July 2019, according to ABC News. The company's position won it plaudits at the time, such as public recognition by the American Historical Association, an association of professional historians, which announced in a public statement that it appreciated Marriott's 'principled stand' and noted the importance of immigrants to the hotel and related industries. It is well-documented that Ice does use hotels to house immigrant families who are being deported from the US or being transferred to other detention centers. In a case that attracted national attention in April, Ice detained two families in Louisiana with three of their US citizen children and held them incommunicado and under guard at a hotel for days on end, despite multiple attempts by family members and lawyers to contact them. The families, along with their US citizen children, were deported in the early hours of 25 April and, according to legal filings, had been held at a location in Alexandria. Filings in that case reviewed by the Guardian include a short, handwritten submission by one of the mothers written on paper that closely matches images of branded Sheraton notepads posted online. The Guardian could not independently confirm whether the families had been detained at the Sheraton in Alexandria. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The Intercept's reporting focused on the story of Edison Iza and his 15-year-old son, Roger, who were reportedly arrested by Ice at an immigration check-in New York on 9 August. The pair were then reportedly flown to Louisiana and 'locked up' in the Sheraton hotel, where they stayed for four days without access to their phones or the internet. 'We couldn't call or go on the web to ask for help,' Roger told the Intercept. 'Without our phones, we didn't know any names or phone numbers.' Ice did not immediately respond to the Guardian's questions about the agency's use of the Sheraton, including whether it has a contract with the hotel or uses it on an ad hoc basis. The hospitality industry is especially vulnerable to Ice raids and the Trump administration's deportation program, given the high percentage of workers in the industry who are undocumented. While the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance earlier this year that Ice agents were not to conduct raids at hotels, restaurants and farms, that guidance was later reversed, according to a June report in the Washington Post. About 34% of housekeepers, 24% of cooks and 20% of waitstaff employed by the US hotel industry is undocumented, according to the 2023 census. Additional reporting by Maanvi Singh Do you have a tip on this story? Please contact a Guardian reporter on Signal at 646-886-8761
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Ice used Marriott chain to detain immigrants, despite hotel's 2019 pledge not to cooperate
A Sheraton hotel in Louisiana has been used by immigration officials to hold people who are being deported, in what appears to be a contradiction of a position Sheraton's parent company, Marriott, took in 2019 when it said its properties would not be used in cooperation with Ice. The Intercept first reported that the hotel, located on MacArthur Drive in Alexandria, Louisiana, near a major deportation hub and airport used by Ice, had been used by immigration officials earlier this month to hold a father and his teenage son for four days after their arrest in New York. They were then deported to Ecuador. The Intercept cited phone-tracking evidence that had been shared with the publication and was later seen by the Guardian. The evidence corroborates the account of a source with knowledge of hotel operations in Alexandria, who told the Guardian that they believed the venue had been used to detain immigrant families and unaccompanied children since it was renovated in late 2023. The source observed Ice contractors known to assist in the transfer of unaccompanied minors operating at the Sheraton as recently as June of this year. The source added that other hotels in the area have also been used to hold immigrant families. It is not clear whether Marriott has a formal contract with Ice or what the company knows about Ice's use of the Sheraton in Alexandria. In one case that emerged last year, Marriott sued a New York-based franchise after the hotel entered a partnership with the city for it to be used as an immigrant shelter, saying it had done so without Marriott's consent. Marriott did not respond to several requests for comment. 'It would be highly unfortunate if major hotel chains are facilitating the Trump administration's cruel policy of deporting families,' said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project. In 2019, during Donald Trump's first term, Marriott rejected the idea that any of its hotels or properties – which include Sheraton and Courtyard hotels – would be used by Ice to detain immigrants. It made the statement at a time when the Trump administration was calling for a mass roundup of undocumented immigrants. Citing anonymous sources, ABC News reported at the time that administration officials had internally discussed the possibility that they might need hotel rooms because of limited capacity at Ice detention centers. 'Our hotels are not configured to be detention facilities, but to be open to guests and community members as well. While we have no particular insights into whether the US government is considering the use of hotels to aid in the situation at the border, Marriott has made the decision to decline any requests to use our hotels as detention facilities,' a company spokesperson said in July 2019, according to ABC News. The company's position won it plaudits at the time, such as public recognition by the American Historical Association, an association of professional historians, which announced in a public statement that it appreciated Marriott's 'principled stand' and noted the importance of immigrants to the hotel and related industries. It is well-documented that Ice does use hotels to house immigrant families who are being deported from the US or being transferred to other detention centers. In a case that attracted national attention in April, Ice detained two families in Louisiana with three of their US citizen children and held them incommunicado and under guard at a hotel for days on end, despite multiple attempts by family members and lawyers to contact them. The families, along with their US citizen children, were deported in the early hours of 25 April and, according to legal filings, had been held at a location in Alexandria. Filings in that case reviewed by the Guardian include a short, handwritten submission by one of the mothers written on paper that closely matches images of branded Sheraton notepads posted online. The Guardian could not independently confirm whether the families had been detained at the Sheraton in Alexandria. Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion The Intercept's reporting focused on the story of Edison Iza and his 15-year-old son, Roger, who were reportedly arrested by Ice at an immigration check-in New York on 9 August. The pair were then reportedly flown to Louisiana and 'locked up' in the Sheraton hotel, where they stayed for four days without access to their phones or the internet. 'We couldn't call or go on the web to ask for help,' Roger told the Intercept. 'Without our phones, we didn't know any names or phone numbers.' Ice did not immediately respond to the Guardian's questions about the agency's use of the Sheraton, including whether it has a contract with the hotel or uses it on an ad hoc basis. The hospitality industry is especially vulnerable to Ice raids and the Trump administration's deportation program, given the high percentage of workers in the industry who are undocumented. While the Department of Homeland Security issued guidance earlier this year that Ice agents were not to conduct raids at hotels, restaurants and farms, that guidance was later reversed, according to a June report in the Washington Post. About 34% of housekeepers, 24% of cooks and 20% of waitstaff employed by the US hotel industry is undocumented, according to the 2023 census. Additional reporting by Maanvi Singh Do you have a tip on this story? Please contact a Guardian reporter on Signal at 646-886-8761
Daily Record
a day ago
- Daily Record
Man guilty over gang shooting of young girl amid brutal turf war
The child, who was hit in the head by one of six bullets, was an innocent victim of a bloody rivalry between Turkish gangs. A man has been found guilty over the shooting of a nine-year-old girl outside a restaurant in a long-running gang feud. The girl was hit in the head by one of six bullets fired by a man on a passing motorbike as she sat with her family in the Evin Restaurant in Kingsland High Street, Hackney, on May 29 last year. The young child was an innocent victim of a bloody rivalry between Turkish gangs of north London. Three men who were sitting at a nearby table were also struck and injured, the Old Bailey was told. On Monday, Javon Riley, 33, from Tottenham, north London, was found guilty of causing grievous harm with intent to the nine-year-old girl, who cannot be identified for legal reasons. Riley was also found guilty of attempting to murder Mustafa Kiziltan, 35, Kenan Aydogdu, 45 and Nasser Ali, 44. The three men were said to be affiliated with the Hackney Turks organised crime gang, who had a rivalry with the Tottenham Turks, with whom Riley had links, the court heard. The court was told that Mr Aydogdu had been injured in a previous shooting. The gunman has not been caught, but jurors were told Riley had played a 'key role' before, during and after the shooting. He had carried out reconnaissance of the restaurant before the attack, scouted for potential targets and drove the gunman away in a stolen car, which was later burnt out. The Old Bailey jury deliberated for six hours and three minutes to convict Riley by a majority of 10 to two. Judge Mark Lucraft KC remanded Riley into custody to be sentenced on September 12. He told him to expect a lengthy prison sentence, saying: 'You have clearly taken part in a shooting which has led to four people being injured, one of them particularly seriously.' The nine-year-old girl spent three months in hospital and will suffer with life-long physical and cognitive problems as the bullet remains lodged in her brain. The three male victims received gunshot wounds to the arm, leg and thigh. In a statement, the girl's mother said: 'In a single moment, the future we had imagined for our daughter was torn away. 'She was once an energetic, adventurous child — everything that celebrated movement, energy, and life. 'Now, weakness on her left side means she can only watch from the sidelines, living with a titanium plate in her skull and a bullet still in her brain. 'As parents, we are shattered, emotionally, physically, mentally, and financially. 'Each day brings new challenges, from her slower growth on one side to the emotional and mental scars that cannot be seen. 'The world we once believed was safe for our child now feels frightening and uncertain. 'This was not just an accident — even if our daughter was not the intended target, those responsible were still attempting to take lives. 'It is brutal and inhumane. 'We live with this pain every day, knowing nothing will ever be the same for our family.' Detective Inspector Ben Dalloway, who led the investigation, said: 'Javon Riley's actions traumatically altered the trajectory of a little girl's life. While this outcome serves as a slither of justice, the dangerous individual responsible for pulling the trigger remains on our streets. 'Those who ordered this shooting are a highly sophisticated criminal organisation. We understand that people may be worried about talking to us because of this, but it is imperative we hear from anyone who can assist this investigation. 'Justice must be secured for this little girl and her family.' Scotland Yard has offered a reward of up to £15,000 for information that leads to the identification, arrest of and prosecution the man who fired the weapon. During the three-week trial, Riley was repeatedly asked to identify the 'third party' who had recruited him for around £40,000. He refused to name the man or help to identify the gunman, claiming he feared for his life at that of his family. He had admitted carrying out reconnaissance, spotting for targets and picking up the gunman, but claimed he thought it was going to be a 'smash and grab' robbery. He initially denied the gunman had said anything about what had happened when he picked him up. But later he admitted the man told him: ' Shots have been fired. I need to get out of here.' The court heard Jamaica-born Riley had a string of convictions dating back to 2008 including for possession of cannabis and cocaine, driving offences, and having an offensive weapon and a blade in his car. In his evidence, he admitted being involved with stealing cars, drug dealing and robberies, although he said he had never been caught for those offences. Riley's connection with the Tottenham Turks gang was revealed in covert police recordings in the months after the shooting. He was recorded talking about a man called Izzet Eren who was shot in Moldova on July 10 last year in what was believed to be a revenge attack.
