Boy, 14, 'stabbed in stomach with kitchen knife' in north London street

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed in the stomach with a 10-inch kitchen knife on a busy north London street as onlookers pleaded with the attacker not to do it, a witness said.

Two men and what appeared to be two young teenagers were involved in a fight for a few minutes before a third teenager ran towards them carrying the "gleaming" weapon, a local resident said.

The victim is in a serious but stable condition after being airlifted to hospital, the Metropolitan Police said, after the incident on Fairbridge Road near Archway shortly before 7pm on Sunday.

An 11-year-old boy who was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder is no longer a suspect, the force added.

In a statement they said: "Following initial enquiries the boy was de-arrested and released from custody."

Local resident Amina Taylor, who said all those involved were white, said she saw the victim stabbed in the stomach with a large knife.

The 40-year-old journalist told how she heard shouting outside her flat overlooking Fairbridge Road and went to her balcony from where she saw a fight involving two men and two young teenagers.

Within a few minutes another young boy ran down the road towards the group carrying what looked like a kitchen knife as onlookers shouted for the fight to stop, she said.

"We could all see the knife in his hand. It was that big," she said.

"You could hear the screams of 'No, stop it, don't do anything, don't be stupid' and he went for (one of the adults) first but then he was kind of swinging wildly and then he just thrust the knife into the stomach of the teenager."

She said she was shocked to see "somebody who is clearly barely taller than my nine-year-old son coming down with a weapon in his hand".

She described seeing the "big" and "cumbersome" weapon gleaming as she watched from her second floor flat.

In a statement, the Met said: "At this early stage officers retain an open mind as to motive."

Police have appealed for anyone who saw the stabbing to contact them.

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