A 14-year-old boy was fatally stabbed outside his home on Saturday, becoming the 25th teenager to die violently in London this year.

Shaquille Maitland-Smith was stabbed in the stomach in Hackney, East London, shortly before midnight, after a group of youths attacked him and his sister, Titi, 16. Witnesses said that his mother and sisters cradled him in their arms in the street before paramedics arrived. He died in hospital yesterday morning.

His aunt, Jackie Green, said: “I don’t think the others realised Shaquille had been stabbed at first — they thought he had just been punched. It’s just terrible.”

A neighbour said that he saw a gang of up to ten youths on BMX bikes and heard shouting outside his house before the teenager was stabbed. “There are always noises out there but you get used to them and ignore them,” the neighbour said. “But on this occasion I heard a girl in tears and I looked out and there was a kid lying in the street, conscious but bleeding.

“He dragged himself in front of his house. He was saying, ‘Ouch, ouch, my stomach’, but very quietly. He was conscious all the time before the ambulance arrived. One of his friends came back with a kitchen knife to go after the boy who did it, but his friends stopped him.”

He added: “Shaquille was a nice boy. He used to help my girlfriend with carrying the shopping bags. He wasn’t aggressive but he got with the wrong crowd.”

Ms Green said that she thought the boys who attacked her nephew may have come to Hackney from nearby London Fields. She said that Shaquille had four siblings and that both his parents were social workers.

Police said that Titi, who suffered slash wounds, was in a stable condition in hospital. Her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

Yesterday a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Police are appealing for witnesses following the fatal stabbing of a 14-year-old boy in Hackney. He was taken to hospital suffering a single stab wound to the stomach. It is believed that the two victims had been involved in an altercation with a group of youths prior to being assaulted. No arrests have been made.”

A 15-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a teenager in Liverpool. Luke Howard, 16, was stabbed after an argument at a party. Police found him on Saturday morning at a house in the Old Swan area of the city. He died in hospital.

The 15-year-old handed himself in at a police station. He is to appear at Liverpool Youth Court today.

In London, a 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of Charles Junior Hendricks, 18, who was stabbed in the chest in Walthamstow last month. He is to appear before magistrates in Redbridge today.

In court today

High Court
Families who lost sons in an RAF Nimrod that burst into flames over Afghanistan in 2006 launch a damages suit against the Ministry of Defence. The case focuses on alleged MoD negligence in failing to ensure that the aircraft was safe to fly.

Old Bailey
Trial of Kanyanta Mulenga and others accused of murdering the boxer James Oyebola. The victim died after being shot at close range in Fulham, southwest London, in July last year after an alleged argument over smoking.

Old Bailey
Trial continues of John Twomey and five others accused of a £1.75 million hold-up at Menzies World Cargo at Heathrow in February 2004. During the raid a gang of six men tied up sixteen members of staff, shooting at one who attempted to escape.

Times Recommends

• An officer and a gentle woman
• Dame Helen Mirren is worthy of the Epidaurus
• Foods that can help to prevent swine flu