Police patrols stepped up after teenager killed in Oxford Street machete attack

Police stepped up patrols in the West End today after the “shocking” machete killing of a teenager in front of horrified shoppers on Oxford Street.

Jeremy Meneses-Chalarca, 17, of Southwark was attacked and chased as a mass brawl broke out on Europe’s busiest shopping street before being stabbed at about 5.30pm on Saturday.

He is the 10th teenager to be killed in London this year. Three other teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after arriving at a south London ­hospital with “superficial” stab injuries.

The three were being questioned in custody today.

Benjamin Teacher, a busker, said: “I was performing when a lad standing behind me took out a sheath, and he had a machete.

"One lad came bolting by, and two other lads came bolting by, chasing him. It was three on one, ­chasing him, with one brandishing a machete in the middle of Oxford Street.”

Friends visited the scene to pay tribute yesterday, each holding a single yellow flower. One girl, who asked not to be named, said: “He was just innocent. We are all his friends and we wanted to lay flowers for him.”

Another said: “All he cared about was making money for his mum and looking after her. We just can’t believe this has happened to him. He was a good ­person.”

Detectives from the Met’s Specialist Crime Command are investigating under the command of Detective Chief Inspector Katherine Goodwin.

She said: “This attack took place following a fight between a number of males in broad daylight and was witnessed by a large number of horrified onlookers. We have spoken to a number of people already but need anyone who has information, video or images to tell us what they know. Your assistance could prove vital as we investigate this terrible incident.”

It is the 79th homicide inquiry opened by police in London in 2020, 10 fewer than by August 10 last year.

Meanwhile, the bodies of a woman and a man in their thirties were found less than a mile apart in a suspected murder-suicide in Dagenham. The woman was found on Whalebone Lane just before 1pm on Saturday. Two hours later, the man was found on Gosfield Road. The woman’s death was being treated as suspicious.

In another case, a man has appeared in court charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found at 7am in woods at Burnt Farm Ride, Enfield, on Thursday.

Brian Sengendo, 25, is accused of killing Therasia Gordon, 44. He was remanded in custody by Willesden magistrates’ court on Saturday to appear at the Old Bailey tomorrow.

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