Police have revealed details of the final moments leading up to the fatal stabbing of Joshua Boadu in Bermondsey – including details of his potential attackers and the car they are believed to have used.
Detectives visited the scene where 23-year-old Joshua, known affectionately as SJ, was stabbed outside Helen Taylor House in Linsey Street yesterday, Monday, to renew their appeal for information three weeks after the attack.
Joshua, an apprentice engineer, was stabbed in broad daylight following an altercation with a group of males in Linsey Street at about 6.21pm on June 11, and sought refuge at an address in nearby Lucey Way.
He was put on life support at King’s College Hospital where his family kept a vigil at his bedside for eleven days but he sadly passed away after his heart stopped beating in the early hours of June 22.
Speaking exclusively to the News at the scene of the attack as officers continued to knock on doors, Detective Inspector Ian Titterrell, who is leading the murder investigation, said: “We believe that the people who attacked Joshua used a dark blue SUV or 4×4-type vehicle.
“It has been suggested that there were four black men, one of a lighter complexion, about 20 years of age.
“It is believed that the car hit a bollard and that a person saw them having trouble with their car and spoke to them.
“We would urge that person to come forward and tell us what they saw.”
(The scene where Joshua was attacked outside Helen Taylor House in Linsey Street, Bermondsey)
DI Titterrell said CCTV footage showed Joshua cycling through Lucey Way towards Linsey Street and back again in the moments before the attack, which was not caught on camera.
“There is footage of Joshua coming across the green area on a bike and then going back,” he said.
“Joshua cycled across initially from Lucey Way towards Linsey Street and then when he cycled back he had a white carrier bag.”
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DI Titterrell said police did not know what was in the carrier bag or what happened to the bike Joshua was riding.
Detectives returned to the scene yesterday to speak to anyone who might have information about what happened to Joshua as they continue to try to establish a motive.
“It’s three weeks since the actual stabbing took place so the hope is that we can connect people’s patterns – if someone is around today that same person may have been around three weeks ago,” said DI Titterrell.
“It’s to capture these people who potentially would have been in that area at the time of the attack and also to revisit the properties that overlook the scene because we know that not everyone has been spoken to.
“We have had a response; we have had people coming forward who are either telling us things they’ve seen or heard, we’ve had anonymous information fed into the inquiry.
“But no one at the moment has committed to evidence which is why we would like to reassure these people we will do our utmost to protect them with a host of methods we can use.
“Joshua’s family are desperate to understand why this happened to him and we really need to get justice for them to help them find some sort of peace.
“I’m hearing Joshua was so well-known and so well-loved and people need to show him that love by coming forward because it’s only in that way that we can catch the people who did this.”
Last week, Joshua’s older brother Jeffrey revealed that his family had moved to Bermondsey where they thought it would be safer after he was stabbed as a youngster in an unprovoked attack in Peckham.
Paying tribute to his youngest brother, Jeffrey, 28, said “the key word to describe him is easy going”.
A post-mortem examination, which took place at Greenwich mortuary on Tuesday, June 26, gave the preliminary cause of death as a stab wound to the chest.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the incident room on 020 8721 4005 or via 101 quoting reference 6365/11Jun.
Alternatively, tweet @MetCC or give information anonymously to Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or visiting crimestoppers-uk.org
No arrests have been made and inquiries continue.