Teenage boy who died in Croydon stabbing named as Jermaine Cools

A teenager who was fatally stabbed in Croydon has been named by police.

Officers were called to London Road on Thursday evening to reports of a fight among a group of people.

While no suspects or victims were found at the scene, at around 7.10pm police were called to a south London hospital where a teenager had self-presented with stab wounds.

Despite the efforts of medical staff, 14-year-old Jermaine Cools was pronounced dead.

In a statement on Sunday, the Metropolitan Police said Jermaine’s next of kin had been informed.

A post-mortem examination gave the Croydon boy’s cause of death as multiple stab wounds, police added.

It is the 27th teenage killing in the capital in 2021, equal to a previous peak in 2017.

Detective Chief Inspector Richard Vandenbergh from Specialist Crime leads the investigation and said:“While our investigation continues to make good progress I am still appealing to anyone who witnessed this fight in the vicinity of West Croydon station on Thursday evening to come forward.“I am also keen to hear from any road users who may have captured events on dashcam – your footage could prove to be vital in piecing together what happened.“Jermaine’s family have been left devastated by his murder and we need to identify the person responsible for this; if you can help please get in touch with my team or you can leave information anonymously with Crimestoppers.”

Any witnesses, or anyone with any information is asked to call police on 101, quoting reference CAD 6179/18Nov, tweet @MetCC or call Crimestoppers, 100 per cent anonymously, on 0800 555 111.