Camden March Against Violence: Hundreds take to the streets following two fatal stabbings
Camden Against Violence march. Marchers listen to the speakers in Harrington Square (Picture: Polly Hancock) - Credit: Archant
Camden’s community came together in an emotionally charged silent march through the borough yesterday, in the aftermath of two teenagers being stabbed to death in February.
Camden Against Violence march. Marchers listen to the speakers in Harrington Square (Picture: Polly Hancock) - Credit: Archant
Organisers estimated around 500 people took part in the Camden Against Violence march, which was led by the mothers and families of Sadiq Aadam Mohamed, and Abdikarim Hassan, who were killed in Malden Road, and Bartholomew Road on February 20.
The uncle of Sadiq Aadam addressed the crowd in Harrington Square at the end of the march. His son, Mohamed Abudllahi, was murdered in 2013 in York Way.
He said: “My own son lost his life nearly five years ago. We never expected it to happen again. We are all devastated.
“The pain and the agony that we have been through as a family over the years. There is no cure but we have to live with it.”
Camden Against Violence march. Marchers listen to the speakers in Harrington Square (Picture: Polly Hancock) - Credit: Archant
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MP for Holborn and St Pancras Keir Starmer said meeting the mothers of the two boys a week after the killings was one of the hardest things he had done as MP.
“It has been an awful month and a lot of people across the borough are saying: ‘We want to change things.’
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“There’s nothing like meeting families who have lost a loved one. I was incredibly struck by the families and those two mothers, and the courage they have shown.”
Speaking to the crowd at the end of the march in Harrington Square, event organiser Elaine Donnellon criticised austerity but also said young people had to reconsider carrying knives.
“We are all Camden against violence. The two boys who lost their lives in Camden are not the first in Camden. They are not the first in London.
“To the young people here today: think about walking out with a knife. There are no winners in this situation. The people who you think are your friends will not visit you when you go to jail for 20 years.”
Ben Drummond, 18, of Ingestre Road; Isaiah Popoola, 18, of Grafton Way; and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons have been charged with murder over both deaths.
They are scheduled to appear at the Old Bailey later this year.
