It comes as the Home Office announced a raft of anti-knife crime plans on Wednesday, including making retailers report bulk or suspicious sales to police, and increasing the jail sentence for selling weapons to children, or illegal blades such as zombie knives, to two years.
Detective Superintendent Vicky Tunstall, leading the investigation in Hackney, said: ‘Our thoughts are with the young man’s family at this incredibly difficult time.
Four of the five victims have been adult males, and the other was 14-year-old boy Kelyan Bokassa – who was stabbed around 27 times as he travelled home on a route 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on January 7.
The proposals will be known as Ronan’s Law after Ronan Kanda, who was murdered in a case of mistaken identity by two boys who were able to buy knives without identity checks.
‘I am grateful to the people of Hackney for their patience while we conduct our enquiries, we know this is a distressing time for residents and they can expect to see an increased police presence in the area.
