Car recovered in hunt for killers of Jayden Moodie, 14, rammed off moped and stabbed to death

• Video report by ITV News Correspondent Sejal Karia

Police investigating the death of a 14-year-old boy who was rammed off his moped and killed in a targeted attack in east London have recovered a car thought to have been involved in the incident.

Earlier on Wednesday, police named the boy killed as Jayden Moodie.

The schoolboy was rammed off the moped by a black Mercedes at around 6.30pm on Tuesday in Bickley Road, Leyton, east London, and was then stabbed several times by three attackers as he lay unconscious in the road.

Jayden was murdered in an area notorious for drug dealing and blighted by so-called county lines gangs that are known to exploit children.

A black Mercedes B Class was recovered in the Carlisle Road area of Leyton on Wednesday and police said "it remains in situ for forensic recovery".

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Soole, from the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "We are treating the recovery of the car as a significant development in our inquiries, which are still very much in their early stages.

"Jayden's family are being fully supported and kept updated by our team.

"This is a truly heartbreaking time for them and we are doing everything we can to find out who was responsible for Jayden's death."

Detective chief superintendent Richard Tucker said Jayden lived with his mother in the area he was killed.

He told reporters he could not sleep overnight for thinking about what had happened to such a young boy.

He said of the boy's age: "I think that will strike a chord with so many people and so many parents across the UK."

A section 60 order was put in place to allow officers to search anyone in the vicinity of the scene for weapons.

Jayden's godmother Zoe Grant, who lives in Nottinghamshire, paid tribute to the 14-year-old by saying: "He was full of life, fun loving and a ray of sunshine. He was a beautiful boy, so intelligent, had everything to live for.

"He went to London and then this happens - it's just so unfair.

"He was very dearly loved by everybody.

"Jayden was a good kid. 14 is no life - it's not fair."

A family friend, who gave his name as Solomon, said the teenager, a talented boxer, was a "wonderful" and "loving" child, while mechanic Anthony Anderson described him as "a very nice guy" whom he had tried to persuade to go to school and stay off the street.

Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, from the Metropolitan Police murder squad, said: "Everything that we have learned about this attack so far indicates it was targeted and intent on lethal force from the outset.

"We are doing everything we can to catch those who carried out this cowardly attack and bring them to justice."

Police patrols were stepped up in the wake of the murder, as locals described moped gangs and drug dealers operating in the area.

Mr Anderson said Jayden would listen as he tried to give him advice.

He said: "As an older person I just tried to give him fatherly advice, not only him but all the young guys - when I saw them I always tried to give them some fatherly advice at times."

He added: "He would listen to you, you could sit and talk to him and he would listen."

In 2018, around a fifth (17%) of homicide victims in London were teenagers, most of whom were stabbed. The youngest were 15.

The latest murder took place in the borough of Waltham Forest, in north-east London, which has has been blighted by gang crime, with the local authority ploughing £3 million over the next four years into a prevention programme.