Teen stabbed to death in UK

By OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT

London

Aug. 18: A British teenager of Sri Lankan origin was stabbed to death in south London over the weekend.

Seventeen-year-old Nilanthan Moorthy, a Tamilian whose family has relatives in India, was stabbed to death in Croydon early on Saturday morning. He was killed by a taxi passenger, who in a racist tirade called him a "f****** Indian and f****** P***," according to a report in the Sun. His killing took the number of teenagers killed violently in London this year to 23 and 50th since the start of 2007.

The assailant fled after racially abusing the teenager and came back and stabbed British-born Nilanthan in the neck at 1 am and the teenager later died in hospital at 4.30 am on Sunday morning.

The police is searching for a white man, in his late 20s or early 30s, who witnesses said argued with the teenager before he died of a single knife wound to the neck.

Meanwhile, England football stars, including David Beckham, joined home secretary Jacqui Smith on Monday to appeal for an end to the knife crime crisis.

Since the blitz to stop knife crime was started in June, the police has stopped 55,000 people, arrested 2,500 suspects and seized 1,600 knives during operations in 10 hotspots in England and Wales.