Children helped to be knife informants after ninth stab death this year

New measures to make it easier for children to report knife owners anonymously are being planned by City Hall after a spate of stabbings in London.

Officials are examining ways of allowing young people to give information without having to contact the police, Kit Malthouse, the deputy Mayor for policing, said today.

The development came as four youths were being questioned about the knife murder of Zac Olumegbon, 15, in south London on Friday. A total of seven teenagers have been arrested in connection with the killing, some as young as 14.

So far this year, eight other teenagers have been stabbed to death in the capital.

Zac, of Brixton Hill, and a friend were ambushed by four youths at the gates of Park Campus School in West Norwood. Detectives are examining a light Nissan Almera which was used as a getaway car and was found abandoned in Stockwell on Saturday.

Mr Malthouse told how he planned to meet government ministers and discuss with them how to tackle knife crime. He said there was currently a debate about whether money should be spent on new legislation to crack down on knives or whether it should go on working with children as young as three or four "to make sure that in 10 years' time they're not doing the same thing".

He told the Standard: "There are a lot of knives in circulation and we need to look at new measures to deal with them.

"Parents need to be more aware of the knives in their house and shopkeepers need to be as responsible as possible. But we also need to look at more effective ways of encouraging young people to report knives.

"Youngsters want to protect their brothers, boyfriends or girlfriends and the best way for them to do that is contact the police if they know someone has a knife.

"A lot of these incidents are planned so getting information to the police is the best way to stop them."

Detectives say the attack on Zac was "pre-planned" and they are investigating the possibility that the murder was motivated by gang rivalries.

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8721 4205 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.