A teenager was arrested this morning by police investigating the murder of 15-year-old Adam Regis, who was stabbed to death in East London on Saturday night.

Scotland Yard said the youth was arrested at around 7.45am at an address in East Ham and is in custody at an East London police station. A spokesman said: “We stress that the investigation continues and that all of our points of appeal remain.”

Adam, 15, was found slumped in a pool of blood a few hundred yards from West Ham’s football ground after he was stabbed in the chest as he returned home from the cinema at around 9.30pm. An ambulance took him to Newham General Hospital where he died just before 11pm.

Police appealed yesterday for information on two black youths wearing dark grey hoodies seen running from the murder scene at the junction of Boundary Road and Kingsland Road in Newham.

Adam’s headteacher, Joan Deslandes, of Kingford Community School, said he was a model pupil. “Adam was a delightful, bubbly young man who worked hard and was happy at school. His attendance and punctuality were excellent.

“He was always polite, popular with everyone and was a reading mentor for younger pupils. He loved sport, particularly rugby and football, and was studying for a GCSE in PE.”

Times Online learnt that Adam called his girlfriend, Rachel Harman, 16, as he lay dying to say that he had collapsed. A source, connected with the inquiry, said: “The phone call was brief and there is no indication that he knew who had attacked him.”

His girlfriend left the most moving of many floral tributes at the scene of the attack. It read: “To Adam, the best boyfriend ever, going to miss you so much! Your (sic) always going to be in my heart baby. Don’t ever forget me, I’ll never forget you, love you with my heart, love Rachel xx”

The stabbing is the latest in a spate of youth murders in the capital – the fifth in six weeks. Last month, three teenagers were shot dead in less than a fortnight, and on Wednesday evening, 16-year-old Kodjo Yenga was stabbed to death while walking with his girlfriend in Hammersmith, West London.

Yesterday, Adam's uncle, John Regis, 40, the former Olympic sprinter, called for action against knife culture. He said: “It’s got to be looked at because it’s beginning to become the norm and we can’t allow that to happen. I hope the perpetrators are brought to justice and they throw the book at them.”

Asked about the weekend’s deaths at a press conference, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, insisted they were not part of any wider problem with society. “Actually, in this last period there has been a reduction in the most serious violent crime but some of these recent incidents have obviously been horrific.”

Nevertheless, John Reid, the Home Secretary, told the Commons that data on “serious or violent” offences involving knives will be recorded separately from next month to give a “more detailed understanding of the prevalence of the problem”.

Mr Reid also said the Government would improve facilities to allow the public to pass information on knife crime to the authorities.

* Four more teenagers became the victim of knife crime today after they were stabbed during a fight in north London.

Two Police Community Support Officers came across a “large street fight” involving a number of youths at 4pm today in Lordship Lane, north London.

One teenager was stabbed in the stomach, two were stabbed in the back and another suffered a leg wound. Three were taken straight to hospital while the other was treated at the scene for some time.

None of their injuries are thought to be life threatening.

Two people were arrested at the scene for possession of an offensive weapon.

The fight comes just three days after Adam Regis was stabbed to death in east London.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said: “The PCSO’s were on routine patrol when they came across a large fight. Four youths in their late teens have stab injuries.”

A London Ambulance spokesman said that three of the youths were taken to hospital, but an hour after the incident the fourth youngster was still being treated at the scene.

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