Schoolboy held on suspicion of murder over fellow 15-year-old stabbed to death in Sheffield

Police consider stop and search measures after second fatal knife attack in city within a week

Tom Barnes
Friday 25 May 2018 14:56 BST
Forensics officers conducting investigations at the scene of the killing on Friday
Forensics officers conducting investigations at the scene of the killing on Friday

A boy is being held on suspicion of murder after a fellow 15-year-old was stabbed to death in Sheffield.

The schoolboy was knifed during an altercation in Lowedges Road in the south of the city at around 7.50pm on Thursday evening, South Yorkshire Police said.

The force added the boy was taken to hospital, but died around an hour after the attack. His family are understood to have been informed.

A second teenager, from Sheffield, was later arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into to custody, where he is being questioned.

The force said residents would see an increased police presence in the Lowedges area over the upcoming bank holiday weekend. It said a cordon put in place while forensics officers conducted investigations was likely to remain until early on Friday evening.

“It’s a bit of a complicated picture at the moment,” said Chief Superintendent Stuart Barton, of South Yorkshire Police. “What I do know is that, clearly, there’s been an altercation taken place. We don’t believe it to be a random attack.

“There may be a bit of targeting with it but it would be wrong for me to say exactly what that was only less than 12 hours since the incident occurred whilst we’re still working with the family and trying to give them some answers.

“Clearly, somebody of 15 years of age is massive concern to us.”

The murder follows a knife attack on Tuesday in Woodhouse, roughly eight miles away, in which 19-year-old Ryan Jowle was killed.

Ch Supt Barton revealed the force was considering the introduction of stop and search measures following the two attacks.

“This weekend we’re considering some, maybe, additional powers that we may wish to use, that we don’t like to use on occasions, around stop and search,” he said “We get to some points when we think what more can we do, how can we support people, how can we give people that presence?”

Asked if any powers would cover the whole city, Ch Supt Barton said: “Not across Sheffield. We’re looking at certain areas if necessary – we have to look at doing that.

“It will be proportionate, it will be necessary, we’ll go through the legal process. But it may be a consideration.”

Mr Jowle died at Northern General Hospital on Wednesday morning after he was stabbed at around 11.10pm on Tuesday.

An 18-year-old woman and a 24-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of murder following his death, the force said. The man remains in custody and the woman has been released on police bail as enquiries continue.

The deaths are just the latest of a number of number of knife-related incidents in the city in recent months, including the killing of 22-year-old Jarvin Blake in Burngreave in March.

Additional reporting by PA

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