Two teenagers have been charged with the murder of a 16-year-old boy who was stabbed through the heart in a gang street fight.

Scotland Yard said students John Ayanru, 19, and Ashley Rookwood, 18, will appear at Sutton Magistrates’ Court later today charged with the murder of Eugene Attram.

The charges follow a huge police appeal for information about the attack in Mitcham, South London, on its first anniversary earlier this month.

Detectives and the boy's family complained that they had met a wall of silence from those who witnessed the fight in Lavender Avenue on November 4 last year.

Over a year they arrested 24 youths and interviewed 650 people. Of those, 17 remain on bail.

Eugene, who was on his way to a fireworks display with friends, suffered a stab wound to the chest and died at St George’s Hospital, Tooting. He was set upon by a gang.

Police said up to 60 people were involved in the street fight, some of them armed with knives, sticks and batons.

Earlier this month Eugene’s mother Maureen Enyonam, 43, said his brutal death had devastated her family. She has played a major part in the hunt for her son’s killers.

Earlier this month she said: “There is not a day that goes by that I do not think of Eugene. Every morning I walk into his bedroom and tell him good morning. I pray someone contacts the police.”

Police made a direct appeal to the parents of those involved to come forward with information.

Speaking on the anniversary of his death, Eugene’s uncle Derrick Quarm, 34, complained that teenagers were too afraid to speak to police.

“There is a lack of courage from the teenagers around here who could help to solve this case,” he said.

Mr Quarm, a police constable, said this meant the family were unable to come to terms properly with their loss.

“We are still waiting for justice to be done,” he added.

Mr Ayanru, from Mitcham, and Mr Rookwood, from Tooting, will appear in court today.

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