The family of the 16-year-old who fell to his death from an East London tower block spoke today of their devastation and shock, and praised a studious young man who had big dreams for his future.

Ahmed Benyarmak, 16, died on Wednesday afternoon after attempting to scale down the outside of a tower block when he was being chased by a group of youths allegedly wielding knifes.

Tomorrow he should have been at a party with his family, toasting his GCSE success with Moroccan tea brewed especially for the occasion by his mother.

Instead, his family will stay inside the darkened sitting room of their Hackney home, mourning the latest teenage victim of gang violence in the capital.

Naima Abdain, his mother, said that Ahmed had been holed up in his room for much of the past year, studying hard for his exams. She found out yesterday that he had gained nine GCSEs.

“He said to me just the other day: ‘Don’t worry Mummy, I know you’ve had a hard life. But I’ve studied hard and when I grow up, I will give you everything’,” she said.

“He wanted to go to university and run his own business.

“Now he won’t get to do any of it. My son does not deserve what has happened to him.”

Ahmed slipped from the seventh floor of a tower block in Paragon Road, Hackney, falling more than 21m (70ft) to his death. It is believed that he had become separated from his 16-year-old brother, Monir, and their friends, when they were being chased by the youths on bicycles.

He may have taken cover in the tower block, in the Trelawney Estate, after becoming concerned about the group. He had climbed down six floors before he lost his footing and fell.

There were reports today that he was the innocent victim in a drug turf war between rival gangs, and one witness claimed that the chasing gang had deliberately banged on Ahmed’s fingers to make his lose his grip.

However, Detective Chief Inspector Ian Stevenson said today there was no evidence that Ahmed’s fingers were stamped on or that he was thrown from the building.

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