"It feels like every day there is a stabbing," said the tearful mother. "When I came to this city, I remember meeting a mother who had lost her child. That was 30 years ago. And now that woman is me."¹

Marie Bokassa's son Kelyan died after being attacked on a bus in WoolwichAn area of southeast London, UK. last Tuesday. London, Marie says, feels like a war zone:

"It's not easy to have your child go out and not know if they are coming back. I'd go to bed and wait for him, and that's where I was when the police came to my door and told me what I had feared the most."

Marie describes Kelyan as a bubbly, friendly boy who was good at art and football and loved music. The head teacher of his school in Eltham called him a "funny, kind and ambitious young man" who worked incredibly hard.²

Marie says that Kelyan was "labelled as gang-affiliatedLinked." by the age of six. His bag was searched every day at his primary school; one day he was caught with a knife. "I wanted to work with the school teachers and help me protect my son," she says. "Nobody wanted to do anything."

After being diagnosed with diabetesA medical condition causing there to be too much sugar in the blood. , Kelyan was taken into care. But his mother says that for a year he lived on the streets and did not attend school. When he came back to her two years ago, he was "underweight, very hungry, tattooed and exposed to drugs".

She tried to stop him associating with gang members, but he "still had one foot on the streets". He was due to appear in court later this year, accused of bringing a machete into school.

In spite of everything, the two spent a happy Christmas together. But a fortnight later came the "surreal" moment when she learnt of Kelyan's death. 

Gangsters recruit vulnerableat risk of being harmed boys like Kelyan to carry drugs for them, and police in England have seen a huge fall in the age of those arrested for drug offences. Between 2017 and 2023 they carried out 49,326 arrests of under-16s, with 7,992 of those in London.³

Some of the children detained in Sussex, Northamptonshire and London were as young as 10. Last year 10 London teenagers were fatally stabbed and another was shot dead.

But there is some hope: the number of deaths was down from 21 in 2023. And charities such as Project Lifeline, Action for Children and Catch22 are working hard to help children escape from gangs.

Can Kelyan's story save lives? 

Yes: It is rare for parents to speak out as Marie has done. By talking about Kelyan's life she has made him more than a statistic and shone a spotlight on the dangers that children like him face.  

No: The whole gang culture is too deeply entrenched. The gangsters who groomTo prepare someone for a specific activity. It often has a sinister connotation, being linked to criminals who befriend young people in order to encourage them to take part in criminal activity or to make them into victims of criminal activity. teenagers do not care what happens to them - if one is arrested or killed, they simply find another to take his place.

Or... Kelyan's story shows how young people are failed by those who are supposed to look after them. This tragic case should put pressure on the care system, the police and teachers.  

Woolwich - An area of southeast London, UK.

Affiliated - Linked.

Diabetes - A medical condition causing there to be too much sugar in the blood.

vulnerable - at risk of being harmed

Groom - To prepare someone for a specific activity. It often has a sinister connotation, being linked to criminals who befriend young people in order to encourage them to take part in criminal activity or to make them into victims of criminal activity.