* YOU BEEN SNAP * SAD NEWS" Father's tears as he visits the park where his 14-year-old son was stabbed to death in broad daylight "

• Leroy James is the tenth teenager to be murdered in London this year
• Victim left slumped next to a wall in a pool of blood

*MKILETEWA HAPA NA FLORA LYIMO DESIGNER*

Grieving Leroy James senior is comforted today as he visits the scene where his 14-year-old son was stabbed to death;

A tearful father today visited the park where his 14-year-old son was stabbed to death close to a crowded playground.

Leroy James's father, Leroy James Snr, was 'in bits' following the stabbing, friends said.

The schoolboy's attackers left him to die in a park and despite paramedics sending an air ambulance to the park in Enfield, north London, he could not be saved.

The teenager is the youngest of ten children to be murdered in the capital this year,

Horrified witnesses described the youngster as 'sweet' as they said Leroy's father was 'in bits'. Today he visited the scene as forensic officers carried out an investigation.

With two further teenage stabbings on Oxford Street - Britain's busiest shopping area - last night, Scotland Yard moved to dismiss fears that London was in the grip of a wave of gang violence.

Police officers arrived at the scene last night to find the victim slumped by a concrete wall lying in a pool of blood.

Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode, the investigating officer, said: 'There's certainly no evidence or any intelligence at this time that this is a gang-related murder.'

Roxy Bagun, 19, who lives on the other side of the park, said she saw Leroy's father at the park yesterday evening.

She said: 'His dad was in bits, crying and crying and crying. I just didn't know what to say to him.'

Miss Bagun said Leroy was a 'good lad' who used to play football and basketball with his friends in the park.

 

'He always used to come and play football,' she said. 'My friend saw it all. He told me how he saw Leroy lying there in a pool of blood.'

Tragic: Leroy James was stabbed to death in Ponders End recreation ground last night. The victim was just nine-years-old when the picture, right, was taken;

She added: 'He was a good lad. I never saw him get into any trouble. They were sweet boys. He just hung around with kids his own age. His friends are so sweet and innocent.'
She said the killers have 'got no fear any more', adding: 'They had the guts to do it right in front of a police station.'
Detectives said Leroy was in the park with his friends before when he was set upon and stabbed.
Launching a hunt for his attacker, Ms Goode said: 'We know from what witnesses have told us so far that Leroy was in an altercation with at least one other boy. I'm completely open-minded as to the motive at this stage.

Murder investigation: A forensics tent is set up in Ponders End Recreation Ground close to a park,  and some flats following the killing last night;

'Officers from the local borough arrived very, very quickly and took control of this crime scene, and did manage to speak to a number of people that were here.

'But we still need to talk to everybody that was present in the park yesterday.

'There were attempts to resuscitate Leroy here in the park but sadly those were unsuccessful, and the air ambulance played their part in trying to save Leroy's life.'

Relatives are 'absolutely destroyed with the grief at losing their son', she added.

Leroy James Snr watches as police conduct a search outside Ponders End Recreation Ground searching for clues into his son's killing;

A forensic officer, right, searches a playground near where Leroy James was found dying by police. Friends had been laying flowers at the scene throughout the day;

'He was a 14-year-old young man who didn't deserve to lose his life. He had his whole life in front of him. A young man with hopes and aspirations, and that's been tragically cut short.'

Friends and schoolmates reacted with shock to the death as hundreds joined a Facebook page set up in his memory.

  

'Leroy you was like my little brother and i loved you with all my heart,' wrote one friend.

'Im going to miss not seeing your face everyday and bussing bare jokes. I felt i could talk to you about anything and i will always remember the things you have done for me. I will never forget you and always love you.'

Another boy added: 'I'm so glad I got the chance to tell you that I love you. I can't accept that you're gone... Everyone loved you fam.'

Slitz Boom, said: 'Rest In Peace Bruddah , Ahh Still Rememba Dem Memorys We Had. I Wish I Cud Bring Dem Memorys Back , Am Gonna Miss You So Much G , Nuff Love'.

A witness, who did not want to be named, said: ‘There were a lot of people in the park at the time. It happened near some swings where there would have been young children playing.

Stabbed: Tributes were being paid on Facebook to Leroy James in an area of London hit by rioting last week;

A police officer stands by the scene where Leroy James was knifed to death last night. The site has been cordoned off while forensic officers investigate;

TEEN MURDERS IN LONDON IN 2011

1. January 19: Wing Juan Ho, 18, fatally stabbed in the chest at his home in Finsbury Park, North London - a 16-year-old youth, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been charged with his murder and the attempted murder of the victim's mother and father
2. January 20: schoolboy Kasey Gordon, 15, from the Green Lanes area of Haringay, fatally stabbed yards from the gates of Park View Academy school in Tottenham, north London, where he was a pupil - a 33-year-old man has been charged with his murder
3.January 24: student Ezekiel Amosu, 17, was killed after being chased into the path of a double decker bus by a gang of muggers who tried to steal his mobile phone in Walthamstow, east London. A 15-year-old has been charged with manslaughter
4.January 29: Daniel Graham, 18, repeatedly stabbed near East Dulwich railway station in south London after several youths were thrown out of a birthday party at nearby Dulwich Hamlet Football Club's ground when fighting broke out. Two teenagers have been charged with his murder
5. April 10: schoolboy Negus McClean, 15, stabbed to death in Edmonton, north London
6. May 11: Temidayo Fuwad Ogunneye, 15, fatally stabbed in Camberwell, south London
7. June 6: business studies student Nana Darko-Frempong, 18, shot dead in a drive-by shooting near his home in Tulse Hill, south London
8. July 1: schoolboy Yemurai Kanyangarara, 16, of Belvedere, south east London, had his throat slashed in nearby Welling
9. August 15: Kelvin Chibueze, 17, from Croydon, fatally stabbed following a party in Ilford
10. August 17: Leroy James, 14, is knifed to death in Enfield

‘I believe that there was a football match going on at the time nearby. There must have been a lot of witnesses around at the time.

‘I saw a lot of 15-18 year-old kids coming out of the park after the police shut it off. There was a very heavy police presence.

‘It is shocking. The community has already been hit by the riots. The Tesco that was looted is only five minutes away from the park.’

She added: ‘The park isn’t a troublespot. Quite often it is empty late at night.

‘We have not had any trouble there for a good few years. A neighbour told me a 14-year-old boy had died and some teenagers were seen running away.’

No murder weapon has been recovered, but the teenager is thought to have died from a single stab wound.

Ponders End recreational ground where the attack happened, also known as Ryan’s Park, hosts several festivals and was expensively refurbished several years ago.

The nearby A10 retail park, including a branch of Tesco, suffered extensive looting during the rioting last week.

Dozens of youths masked youths rampaged the store, making off with dozens of televisions and bottles of alcohol on Sunday August 7.

Staff at Tesco told how: ‘The windows smashed and they just came pouring in from all four sides.’

On Tuesday police revealed that less than half of the people arrested for the rioting in Enfield live in the borough.

A record number of 29 teenagers were murdered in London in 2008, topping the previous worst toll of 27 in 2007. However, there was a steep decline to just 15 teenage murders in the capital in 2009. A total of 19 teenagers were unlawfully killed in London last year.

The killing happened just two days after Kelvin Chibueze, 17, was stabbed to death in Ilford, east London, in the early hours of Monday morning, following a fight involving up to 20 youths.

• Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8345 3985 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Police forensics work on the scene last night where Leroy James, 14, was stabbed to death;