Peace walk for Martin Dinnegan – in a week that has seen three more stabbings

Published: 24th June, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

A PEACE walk – commemorating the murder of 14-year-old Martin Dinnegan – is being held tomorrow (Saturday) in a week when there have been three stabbings.

The walk, led by peace campaigner Bruce Kent and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn, will start from St Mellitus Church, Tollington Way, at 1.30pm.

On Saturday, a 16-year-old boy was stabbed in Barnard Park. 

Sustaining three puncture wounds to the leg, armpit and back, he was one of one of three victims of knife crime this week. 

The incident happened at around 10.30pm in the park opposite Charlotte Terrace on the Barnsbury estate.

Detectives in Islington are also appealing for help and information from the public after a 28-year-old man was seriously assaulted in Tollington Place, on Tuesday.

The victim told police that at about 6.20pm he was in Wray Crescent Park with a friend when he was approached by a group of men who chased him until they caught up with him in Tollington Place.

After a brief verbal exchange they surrounded the victim and punched and stabbed him repeatedly. 

The suspects then split up and fled towards Wray Crescent Park and Tollington Park.

The victim sustained multiple stab wounds, including a punctured lung and was taken to a London hospital. He remains in hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The suspects ­– up to 15 of them ­– are described as black males, aged from 16 to 20. One of the suspects was carrying a crutch.

In addition, Islington detectives are appealing for help and information from the public after a man was stabbed in St John’s Way, Archway, on Saturday.

The 22-year-old victim is believed to have been involved in an altercation with a group of men outside the Royal Oak pub, St John’s Way. 

The victim made his way to a north London hospital suffering from a serious stab wound to the chest. The hospital described his injuries as non-life threatening.

• The three-mile peace walk in memory of victims of both local street crime and international war marks the anniversary of the death of Martin Dinnegan, who was murdered with a knife aged in 2007. His family are parishioners at the church in Tollington Park.

The walk starts with a meeting in the Peace Garden at St Mellitus Church at 1.30pm. 

There is then a 15-minute walk for a picnic in the Martin Dinnegan Peace Garden, Cornwallis Park, for 2pm. There will be a short dedication by Martin’s family for peace and safety in the neighbourhood.

This will be followed by  a short walk to the Philip Noel-Baker Peace Garden, Elthorne Park, Hazellville Road.

At 2.45pm there will be a short introduction from Bruce Kent about the “heroes and heroines of peacemaking”.

Finally, at 3.45pm, it will assemble at Holy Trinity Peace Garden, Granville Road,  Stroud Green.