I should have known something was  wrong when I saw the name displayed on my screen. On reflection, I did sense something was up, but I wasn’t prepared for what I heard.

On the afternoon of Tuesday the 3rd of October 2023, a young man who I  had been stood next to just two Saturdays prior, was left dying in the street.

On the afternoon of Wednesday the 4th of October 2023, I was minutes  away from the place where he died, being told of his passing.

What’s going on?

A questioned echoed by many, including journalist,  Nadine White . According to her social media post (Tue 3rd), this was

The 5th stabbing in South London within the last fortnight. And the 3rd fatal one (Elianne, Sutton man) within that period. What’s going on?

Moreover, this appears to be the 5th fatal stabbing in London and 7th, overall – that we know of – in two weeks

@nadine_writes (writes for The Independent and is the first UK Race Correspondent)

When is enough enough?

As my Wednesday afternoon turned to evening, at some point these words formed into an insistent question. As spent as I was when I got home that night, I had to put pen  to paper.

‘Enough is Enough | 4 October 2023