Murdered teenager caught up in gangs and knife crime

London's first teenage murder victim of the new year came to Britain in search of a better life but became caught up in a culture of gangs and knife-point robbery.

Henry Bolombi was sent from the Congo at the age of 13 to be raised by his aunt and uncle in north London but his life became dominated by gang violence and he was convicted of a string of robberies using a knife.

Today his uncle said he was struggling to come to terms with the death of the 18-year-old, who was stabbed after a confrontation with a rival gang on Tuesday.

The Edmonton teenager had snubbed a family party to go out with friends in central London before he was killed. He was found lying in Plevna Road with stab wounds and was pronounced dead at hospital. Police believe he may have been chased for 20 minutes.

Friend Latoya Benjamin said Henry saw being a gang member as an achievement. Known as Black H, he ran a gang called The Cage Boys, also known as The African Boys.

"He became notorious when he left school - everybody in Edmonton knew he was in a gang," the 18-year-old said.

Madeleine Cox, 51, who knew Henry through a neighbour, said: "He was trying to start a new life. He gets stabbed by someone, probably for looking at them the wrong way.

"People from the Congo see the most terrible things - their parents decapitated in front of them, they are raped, mutilated, it is shocking. They come to a better place. It is such a waste, we are all devastated."

Henry's uncle Mayasa Michael Tshombe, a postman, said: "I was in a church on New Year's Eve and thought about phoning him before midnight but something stopped me.

"He was a good boy. Maybe he fell into the wrong crowd but he wasn't bad. He had just got back into education and was at college."