Kiyan Prince

Kiyan Prince was a 15 year old British boy who attended the London Academy in Edgware, in the London borough of Barnet. He was fatally stabbed on 18 May 2006, receiving a single lethal knife wound, while apparently intervening to prevent the bullying of another boy. Described as "an outstanding and upstanding boy", Kiyan was a prodigious footballing talent, and represented the Queen's Park Rangers youth football team. [Mirror.co.uk, 20 May 2006]

Murder

According to the Metropolitan police, Kiyan Prince was involved in an altercation with another boy shortly before the stabbing. Kiyan was found at 1535 BST by a sergeant from a local "Safer Neighbourhood" team, and he was transferred to the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel before being pronounced dead two hours later.

Response

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, in response to the killing, has said that he will discuss with the Home Secretary and the Lord Chancellor about assigning maximum imprisonment sentences for those who carry knives. In addition to this, a Violent Crime Reduction Bill is being formulated, that will increase the age at which a person can purchase a knife from 16 to 18. [BBC News [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4996626.stm] ]

Queen's Park Rangers paid tribute to Prince, the youth player who they signed in 2004, and later revealed they planned to sign as a professional. The-then first team coach Gary Waddock said: "The whole club is mourning the loss of one of our own. We are all devastated. Kiyan was certainly one for the future, talented lad who wanted to forge a career in football." [Mirror.co.uk, 20 May 2006]

A 16-year-old youth was charged with Kiyan's murder on 20 May 2006 and remanded in custody. The conviction of Hannad Hasan of the murder of Kiyan Prince was reported on 2 July, 2007. Hasan claimed that he carried the large pocket knife "like a toy". It was not revealed to the jury that a few days prior to stabbing Kiyan he had used the knife to threaten a schoolgirl on a bus over a seat.

In memory of Kiyan, Q.P.R have made an award called the "Kiyan Prince Goal of the Season" which is awarded to the player who scores QPR's best goal of the season.

References

* [http://news.google.co.uk/news/url?sa=t&ct=uk/7-0&fp=447356a93b1122be&ei=LIdzRNb-FYvCwQHezKHSDw&url=http%3A//www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml%3Fxml%3D/news/2006/05/20/nstab320.xml%26sSheet%3D/news/2006/05/20/ixuknews.html&cid=0 "A torrent of grief for Kiyan, the boy with a heart of gold"] , Daily Telegraph, 20 May 2006
* [http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17105924&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=if-these-are-my-last-words-tell-mum-i-love-her--name_page.html MURDER AT SCHOOL GATE: KIYAN'S LAST WORDS] , Mirror.co.uk, 20 May 2006

r.i.p kiyan