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A 14-year-old boy has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a 12-year-old boy was stabbed to death in Birmingham.
The boy was found with serious injuries near Scribers Lane, Hall Green, shortly after 3pm on Tuesday, West Midlands Police said.
He was taken to hospital but died from his injuries, according to the force.
Police said the boy’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.
Detectives said they were urgently reviewing CCTV and speaking to witnesses, as they urged anyone in the area at the time to contact them with any information or footage.
The force said in a statement: “We are continuing to appeal for any information which could help in our investigation. We have set up our major incident public portal (MIPP) where members of the public can submit photos or video evidence.”
The fatal stabbing happened on the day MPs were told that a ban on knife sales to under-18s has not proved effective, after teenager Axel Rudakabana pleaded guilty to murdering three young girls and attempting to kill 10 others at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport last July.
The sale of knives with a fixed blade of more than three inches long to under-18s is illegal in England and Wales, with retailers facing fines or prosecution if they breach the law.
But home secretary Yvette Cooper revealed on Wednesday that the Southport killer was “easily able to order a knife on Amazon”, when he was still aged 17 and had been convicted over violence.
She told MPs: “That’s a total disgrace and it must change. So, we will bring in stronger measures to tackle knife sales online in the Crime and Policing Bill this spring.”
Figures published last April suggested that the West Midlands had the highest rate of knife crime in England and Wales in 2023.
There were 180 offences involving a blade per 100,000 people living in the West Midlands in 2023, compared with 165 in the Metropolitan Police area, according to the Office for National Statistics.
That totalled some 5,324 knife crime offences dealt with by West Midlands Police in 2023 – with more recent figures published in October suggesting that rate had remained largely unchanged.
Police are asking anyone with information about the fatal stabbing on Tuesday to use the MIPP or call 101 quoting log 3324 of January 21
Source: independent.co.uk
