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The family of a schoolgirl allegedly stabbed to death by a stalker she met at church repeatedly told police she was being harassed but were ignored, it was claimed today. Arsema Dawit’s mother went to police several times for help to stop the obsessed man bothering her daughter but was told they could not do anything to protect her, according to a family friend. The 15-year-old’s bloodied body, still in her school uniform, was discovered by a woman and her nine-year-old daughter in the lift of a block of flats where she lived yesterday. A blade was still sticking out of her side when her body was found. The attack was so violent that part of the handle had snapped off.
It is believed her attacker, who had already been warned to stay away by her family, had lain in wait until the teenager returned home from school. Family friend Simon Tesfaghiorgish said today: ‘I didn’t know him but he had been harassing her. ‘The mother told the police a number of times. The police said they couldn’t take any action. What they want is, after things happen, they want to know.’ Mr Tesfaghiorgish said he thought the man had met Arsema through church. ‘We are going to complain about this (the police handling of their concerns),’ he said. ‘He beat her and threatened to kill her.’
A neighbour living in the flats near Waterloo in central London said he had seen the man arguing with Arsema’s sister two months ago. Wayne Fort, whose partner and daughter found the teenager’s body, said she had been warning him to stay away and not to harm the schoolgirl again. ‘There was a chap who seemed to be infatuated with her. He seemed to have met her at the church,’ he said. ‘I could see from the efforts of the elders of the family they were trying to get rid of the man.’ Mr Fort also described the terrifying moment his daughter found Arsema’s body and came running to their door. He said: ‘Daddy, Daddy, quick, come! The girl’s in the lift, she’s on the floor, there’s lots of blood.’ The nine-year-old was still ‘extremely upset’ at the horrific discovery, her father added. ‘She is in a very bad state – she didn’t sleep much last night.’
Police sources have confirmed officers investigated a complaint of assault on Arsema in April. It is understood that no one was arrested. A spokesman from Scotland Yard said: ‘It has been established that Arsema and the suspect knew each other but the exact nature of their relationship is unclear at this stage. ‘Police did receive an allegation of assault made by Arsema and her family in April this year, an ongoing investigation was set up and contact was made with the victim with a view to further progressing that investigation.’ The fatal stabbing brings the number of teenagers killed in London this year to 16. Arsema was the first female victim. Sources close to the investigation today said her attacker got into the flats through broken security doors.
One source said: ‘She came back on her own and he was waiting for her.
‘She did not let him into the block. The security doors have been broken for almost two years. He did not have to break in, he could just walk through. ‘Anyone can get in. Her mother was waiting for her to get home and was making toast. It is terrible.’ A detective investigating the murder said it appeared that Arsema had been ‘the subject of unwarranted attention from a man who developed an obsession with her’. He added: ‘There is a suggestion she met him through a church group. But it was unrequited love and she didn’t want to know.’
Officers arrested a man in his thirties on suspicion of murder on London’s famous Hungerford Bridge yesterday, about half a mile from the scene. The man, about 5ft 8ins tall and of African appearance, had been spotted by passers-by in a public lavatory next to the County Hall hotel. An onlooker, who thought he had harmed himself, telephoned the police but the suspect had gone by the time they arrived. He was later seen on the bridge, clinging to its side and talking into a mobile phone. A witness said: ‘He was clearly agitated and acting as though he was plucking up the courage to jump into the Thames. ‘Two plain-clothed officers walked from the south side of the bridge towards him, if you looked closely you could see they had stab vests on. ‘As they approached him they drew batons and wrestled him to the floor. Then they were joined by several uniformed officers. It was over in seconds.’ A woman believed to be Arsema’s mother was taken away from the flat in a police car today.
Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode of the Homicide and Serious Crime Command added: ‘At this stage, I am trying to establish the true nature of the relationship between Arsema and the man in custody. ‘We are speaking to her family and friends to help build a picture of events leading up to the murder and to help piece together the relationship between them.’ Family friend Berekati Asfeday said Arsema’s mother was so upset that she ‘can’t talk, just cry, cry, cry, non-stop cry.’ She added that Arsema was a devoted churchgoer who went to St Michael’s Orthodox Church in Camberwell twice every single weekend. ‘She was in the church with me, she was a singer. She was a beautiful girl, just a beautiful girl.’ Another neighbour Cosima Paniza heard Arsema arguing with a man on the staircase shortly before she was killed. ‘I went to put my rubbish in the chute and I heard the man and the girl arguing, I couldn’t get the words of the girl because she was shouting so loud. It sounded like he was threatening her.’
When she returned to the flats later, she was told Arsema had been murdered. The teenager was a pupil at the nearby Harris Academy School and had celebrated her 15th birthday three days ago. She is understood to have moved to Southwark with her family a couple of years ago from Tower Hamlets. Her body was removed on a stretcher shortly before 10pm yesterday. Her brother, aged 13, and sister were at home with their parents, who are originally from Eritrea, as forensic officers gathered evidence from the scene. Today a teenage friend, who lives below the family, told how he had to break the news of the stabbing to the girl’s mother. He said: ‘I was coming back from school when I heard screaming. I ran to the lift and that’s when I found her. ‘There was blood everywhere. She looked very, very bad. She had been injured in the neck and in the chest. She was breathing, but she was unconscious.
‘I just thought it could have been me lying there if I’d got back a few minutes earlier. ‘I went to call her mum, who was at home, and she came down. She was screaming. ‘My neighbour’s husband came out and took her away, telling her to take deep breaths.’ The friend said Arsema was studying for her GCSE exams, but had struggled as she had not spoken English when she first went to school. ‘She was a very bubbly person. Almost kind of an angel. She was smiling all the time. I’ve heard a lot of things from different people but I don’t think she had a boyfriend. I never saw her with anyone.’ A people carrier brought relatives to the block this morning. One woman, believed to be Arsema’s aunt, wailed with emotion as she entered the building, where scenes of crime officers were still carrying out searches. Cathy Loxton, the principal at Arsema’s school, described her as a popular pupil. She said: ‘We are all shocked by the loss of one of our students and the tragic ending of a life that showed so much promise.
‘Arsema was a popular, friendly and well-behaved girl who had much to contribute to our school community. ‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Arsema’s family and friends.’ Arsema’s schoolmates were told about the teenager’s murder during special assemblies today. A spokeswoman for the school said many youngsters were extremely upset and some had been sent home. She said: ‘This is being broken to them in year groups. It is very sad. It is very hard at the moment.’ The Harris Academy, formerly known as Aylwin Girls School, is one of the Government’s flagship schools. It describes itself as a specialist enterprise school that educates girls aged between 11 and 16. Supt Alistair Sutherland, from Lambeth police, said: ‘This does not appear to be gang related or as a result of a stranger attack.
‘We also have a man in custody arrested on suspicion of murder.” Last year 27 teenagers were killed in London in a wave of gang and youth violence but that record figure is set to be surpassed. The Government responded last week with a hard-hitting advertising campaign showing images of a man with two knives in his chest. In the past two weeks Harry Potter actor Robert Knox, 18, was stabbed to death outside a bar in Sidcup and 16-year-old Jimmy Mizen was killed when his throat was clashed with a shard of glass in a bakery in Lee. After the Jimmy Mizen killing Scotland Yard launched a crackdown on knives using tough stop and search powers and airport-style metal detectors to find weapons. A post mortem examination on the schoolgirl was due to take place today.
