Two youths stabbed in knife fight near school

TWO youths were stabbed in a fight near a school.

More than 30 police were called to John Roan Secondary School in Blackheath yesterday after reports that a 16-year-old boy had been knifed in the chest.

He was found in Combe Avenue, within 100 yards of the school, at about 3.30pm.

Then officers were contacted by staff at the school after a 17-year-old youth came onto the premises with a knife wound to his face.

The boy of 16 was arrested in his hospital bed where he is being treated for serious injuries. He was said today to be in a "satisfactory" condition.

The 17-year-old was released from hospital last night. He is in custody at Plumstead police station.

Officers found a discarded knife at the scene. Neighbours told how up to 30 police were called to the area where they condoned off a nearby block of flats before sending a police dog into the properties.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said the two stabbings are "being linked". She said: "We attended and discovered a 16-year-old male suffering from a stab wound to the chest.

"We were also called to John Roan School to reports that a 17-year-old was found suffering from a stab wound to the face.

"The incident is believed to have taken place in Combe Avenue and no other persons are thought to have been involved." Former Olympic sprinter-turned-TV pundit John Regis, 42, was a pupil at John Roan, a comprehensive secondary school, between 1978-1983.

In 2007 his 15-year-old nephew Adam Regis was stabbed to death in Barking after getting off a bus. In London alone last year, 28 teenagers were either shot, stabbed or beaten to death.