Teenage actor of next Harry Porter movie stabbed to death
Robert Knox
Robert Knox (right) with brother Jamie and mother Sally 
An 18-year-old actor became this year's 14th teenage victim of London's knife and gun street culture yesterday when he was stabbed in a brawl outside a bar in Sidcup, just two weeks after 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen was knifed to death outside a bakery in nearby Lee. 
 

Four other young men were treated for stab wounds after a fight broke out in Sidcup shortly after midnight. A 16-year-old was stabbed in the chest; a 21-year-old is in hospital after being stabbed in the neck; and another youth was treated for a hand wound. Police said a 21-year-old man had been arrested.

The man who died was named yesterday as Rob Knox. He is understood to have had a minor role in the next Harry Potter film. A statement from Warner Bros released yesterday said: "We are all shocked and saddened by this news ... our sympathies are with his family."

An internal Scotland Yard report obtained by The Independent on Sunday reveals that, while violent crime is generally falling in London, the murder rate for victims aged 20 and under "has more than doubled in the past three years". It adds: "The 11- to 20-year-old age group has also nearly doubled in gang [and] public order type violence."

As if to underline the point, a boy of 17 was fighting for his life last night after being shot in Archway, north London, in an incident being investigated by Scotland Yard's Trident squad.

On Thursday, London's Metropolitan Police Authority will hear grim details of research into life on some of the city's streets for young people. The report highlights fear among teens who say they are scared to travel on public transport, to leave their own "endz" or postcode areas, and that dinner-money theft is so common it is hardly reported. Of children interviewed who said they had been victims of crime, just 47 per cent said they had reported it to police, indicating that actual crime could be twice as bad as official figures. It adds that despite this, young people are suspicious of stop-and-search powers, which the Met is stepping up to try to combat knife crime.

The sentiments were echoed by the Children's Commissioner for England yesterday. Sir Al Aynsley-Green said: "There is a balance here: on the one hand for young people to feel safer by police [presence], but on the other making sure new powers don't create further antagonism by increased stopping and searching."

Alf Hitchcock, Acting Assistant Commissioner of the Met, said the force was working on community initiatives and tougher policing to clamp down on knife culture. Measures include sending police to schools to talk to pupils, an anonymous texting service to report crime, to begin next month, and a nationwide "one strike and you're out" policy. 

"If you are caught with a knife and there is an aggravating factor, such as you are in school, you will go to court," he said. "It's a long-term effort," he said, adding that no single measure would solve the problem, which involves social deprivation, parenting and criminality. 

Elice Buck sobbed
Horror of Girlfriend
ROBERT'S former girlfriend last night called him "the love of my life.
Devastated Elice Buck sobbed: "I have cried and cried all I can since I got the phone call and it still hasn't sunk in. I just can't believe I will never see Rob again. I will never see his cheeky smile or hear his voice. 

"He was such a special person. It all just seems like a bad dream. This sort of thing always seems to happen to the good guys." 

Elice, 18, went on: "He was convinced he was going to be a star and we all knew he would be too. 

"The thing I loved about him the most was that he was so talented, yet modest with it." 

She added: "I wish I had been there because maybe I would have been able to calm things down and Rob would still be here." 


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