Fresh plea a year on to catch boy’s knife killers

The week-long appeal, on the Metropolitan Police Facebook page, will bolster existing efforts to find the 15-year-old’s killers.

A £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for Negus’s murder has already been offered.

So far 16 people have been arrested in connection with the stabbing. All have been bailed pending further inquiries and are due to report back to police later this month.

Police were called to Westminster Road, Edmonton, north London, on April 10 last year and found aspiring rapper Negus collapsed after suffering stab wounds to the chest and thigh. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital but died later that night.

It is believed around seven young black men on bicycles chased Negus prior to the murder. One of the suspects is believed to have been wearing a dark-coloured, possibly black, hooded jumper with a large “Franklin & Marshall” logo on the front.

His cousin Noel, 25, said the teenager was killed defending his younger brother in a “selfless act”.

Detective Inspector Julian Tree, who is leading the investigation, said: “It has been a year since Negus was murdered.

“He was loving and caring to his friends and family who speak very highly of him. It’s devastating for his family that his killers are still out there, living their lives.

“If you have any information that you didn’t feel you could tell us previously, or if you have provided information but want to talk to us again for any reason, please get in touch – it’s not too late. No matter how insignificant it may seem, please don’t hold it back – contact the incident room on 020 8345 3775.

“If you are worried about talking to the police, we can meet you discreetly out of your area, we won’t be in uniform or a marked police car and your information will be treated in the strictest of confidence.”

Negus’s mother, Ingrid Adams, and his sister, Candice McClean, previously spoke to the BBC’s Crimewatch programme about the impact of the murder.

In the interview, his mother said: “Negus died 16 days before his 16th birthday. He had his whole life ahead of him, there were so many things he wanted to do, He had so many plans and he will never do them now.

“He was always my baby. He was my Negus and that’s what I called him. He was just my perfect baby and he’s very missed.”

In an appeal to those worried about giving information to the police, Negus’s sister said: “If they’re scared, if they don’t want to be scared for the rest of their lives, then they need to speak up and get these people off the street, otherwise that is just going to be the way it is forever.”