London shootings: Tributes paid to 'lovely' 17-year-old girl killed 'for no reason'

'Her mum didn't deserve to watch her die,' said neighbour

Tributes have been paid to a 17-year-old girl shot dead “for no reason at all” in a fatal drive-by attack.

The teenager, named locally as Tanesha Melbourne, was with friends in Chalgrove Road in Tottenham, north London, at 9.30pm on Monday when she was murdered.

Neighbours and friends described her as “a good girl” and “lovely” member of the community, saying she was caught by chance in the middle of a postcode war between rival gangs.

Ms Melbourne’s mother arrived at the scene before paramedics and watched as they tried to save her life. She was pronounced dead at 10.35pm, witnesses said.

It came amid a flurry of violence in the capital and rising concern about the availability of guns. Minutes after the murder in Tottenham, a 16-year-old boy was reportedly shot in the face in Walthamstow.

He was in a critical condition on Monday afternoon, while a 15-year-old boy who was discovered with knife wounds at the scene was left with life-changing, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Describing the scene in Tottenham, a woman who knew the 17-year-old victim said: “The car just pulled up and just started shooting.”

A 21-year-old witness, who did not want to be named, said she heard the gunshots “like fireworks” from her house.

“I put her on her side and I was just rubbing her back, saying ‘everything’s going to be OK’. I just can’t believe it – so young. It’s ridiculous now.”

She told of how Ms Melbourne’s mother arrived at the scene before paramedics, adding: “She was screaming. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t deserve that. Her mum didn’t deserve to watch her die.”

Tottenham-raised rapper Wretch32, whose real name is Jermaine Scott Sinclair, was among those to pay tribute, tweeting: “Wish I knew what to say about what’s happening in my ends. North London we’re better then this man smh RIP to the young angel who lost her life last night. Love and prayers to the family. I’m honestly lost for words.”

A friend of the murdered girl said: “Tanesha was a very known, very lovable little girl in the community, she was not involved in any sort of problems with anyone.

“I can’t believe she’s gone. She was just an innocent child caught up in this stupid postcode war.”

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told how he rushed to help the victim when her friends raised the alarm. “This is not the first time. This is a war,” he added.

Another neighbour, 43, said Tanesha had visited her house, and described her as “just a normal girl trying to enjoy life”.

The mother, who also did not want to be named, said she had also heard the shots were fired from a car.

“She never even started life. She was just beginning her journey,” she said.

She spoke of regular violent incidents in the area, driven by gangs.

“My kids are scared for me because I will protect my kids at any cost,” she added.

One of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the scene said Tanesha was “in the wrong place at the wrong time”.

Schoolfriend Candice Hassan, 17, said she found out about the murder on Snapchat just half an hour after the shooting.

“It was shocking. Everyone’s upset obviously – one minute I see her and the next minute I don’t,” she said.

“One hour before her death, I saw her on Snapchat – one hour before she got shot. Everyone knows Tanesha, she’s just a humble girl.

“It was just the wrong place at the wrong time. She didn’t deserve any of that.”

In Walthamstow, local MP Stella Creasy said on her Facebook page that the 16-year-old in a critical condition had been shot in the face.

A Section 60 order, which allows police to search members of the public without suspicion amid the risk of serious violence, was put in place.

“Separate investigations have been launched after two teenagers were shot in north and east London yesterday evening, Monday 2 April,” the Met Police said in a statement.

“There have been no arrests at this stage in relation to both incidents and they are not being treated as linked. The Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating,” they added.

The Met called for anyone with information to get in touch.

In a statement they said: “At this stage detectives are working to establish the type of car and how many people were both in the vehicle and within the group shot at.

“They are keeping an open mind about the motive for the attack.”

In a third incident, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed near St Leonard’s Street in Bow, east London, at around 6pm on Sunday. He was given first aid and on Tuesday afternoon was in a stable condition in hospital.

Four boys – two aged 16 and two aged 15 – have been charged with GBH and appeared at Stratford Youth Court on Tuesday.

The Met Police said detectives from Tower Hamlets are appealing for information from the public and officers from Tower Hamlets CID are investigating.

So far this year, the Metropolitan Police have launched 47 murder inquiries – eight in January, 15 in February, 22 in March and two in April.

In the whole of last year, there were 130 murders in London. The number of killings reached a peak around June before dropping again in the second half of the year.

So far this year, 31 people have been stabbed to death in the capital. The latest was a 20-year-old man who was attacked moments after leaving a bar in Wandsworth and died in the street.

It emerged at the weekend that London’s murder rate has risen above New York’s for the first time in modern history.

On Thursday, the family of Abraham Badru, 26, who was shot dead in Hackney, east London, on 25 March, warned that “gun culture is becoming rampant in our community”.

There have been five fatal shootings in London so far in 2018.

The latest incidents will bring fresh scrutiny on the government’s efforts to halt rising levels of violent crime around the country.

Figures published in January showed police recorded 37,443 offences involving a knife or sharp instrument in the year ending September 2017 – a 21 per cent increase compared with the previous year and the highest tally since comparable records started in the 12 months to March 2011.

Gun-related crime also went up by a fifth year on year, to 6,694 recorded offences.

Ministers point to findings from a separate crime survey that show overall offending is going down over the long term.

But they have acknowledged that some of the increase in police-recorded violent crime is “genuine”.

Detective Chief Superintendent Richard Wood, in charge of the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “Once again this weekend violent crime and the murder of young people on our streets has hit the headlines, and quite rightly.

“Today there are families and loved ones struggling to come to terms with the loss of their children and best friends.

“We are concerned about the number of people being killed on our streets, and 2018 has shown the reality that more young people are prepared to turn to more serious violence more quickly.

“Our homicide detectives are working incredibly hard to do all they can to identify and catch those responsible.

“Whilst the reasons for the rise in violence, being seen across the country, are many and complex, the role of the police is clear. The absolute priority for the Met is to bear down on violent crime in all its forms, but especially knife and gang crime. Right now our officers are on the streets and will make more arrests for violence, take more knives off the streets and prevent violence.”

In the coming weeks, the Home Office will publish a serious violence strategy, which it says will place a “new emphasis” on steering young people away from crime.

Proposed measures include a “two strikes” regime, meaning criminals caught with corrosive substances twice will automatically face a prison sentence of at least six months, and a tightening of rules covering online sales of knives.

The recent spate of violence has prompted scrutiny of a sharp reduction in stop-and-search activity, with use of the powers at the lowest level since current data records started 17 years ago.

Stop and search has repeatedly attracted controversy, with criticism focusing mainly on the number of stops of black and minority ethnic individuals.

Reforms were introduced in 2014 by the then home secretary, Theresa May, to ensure the tactic was used in a more targeted way.

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “All forms of violent crime are totally unacceptable. This government is taking action to restrict access to offensive weapons as well as working to break the deadly cycle of violence and protect our children, families and communities.

“The UK has some of the toughest gun laws in the world and we are determined to keep it that way.”

A Downing Street spokesman said: “These are all tragic cases and our thoughts are with the families of the victims.”

PA contributed to this report