AT JUST 15 years old, Jordan Douherty from Romford. lost his life – apparently during a massive fight which broke out after a birthday party in a community centre in Clockhouse Lane, Romford on Saturday, 23rd June.
AT JUST 16 years of age, a young man from Newham has been arrested on suspicion of the murder. Three other young men – aged 15, 16 and 17 – were arrested at the scene and have since been released under investigation.
The emergency services were called to the community centre at around 9pm on the Saturday. It seemed that different groups of young men were fighting – and the community centre was being wrecked.
Youths confronted the emergency services – but paramedics did find Jordan Douherty, suffering from stab wounds, on the street outside the centre. They gave him emergency treatment, but sadly he died shortly after. At a post mortem a couple of days later it was established that his cause of death was hypovolemic shock caused by a stab wound to his heart.
Detectives from the Homicide and Major Crime Command are investigating led by Detective Chief Inspector Larry Smith, who is leading the muder investigation being conducted by the Homicide and Major Crime Command, said, “We believe that this birthday party was advertised on social media, resulting in a large number of people attending. A number of people were escorted out of the community centre and this led to a fight breaking out and tragically Jordan receiving fatal injuries. A bus driver who was assaulted received his injures as a result of refusing to take a number of party goers who wanted to leave the scene.
“Response team officers who attended the initial calls were confronted with up to 100 plus youths and I would like to directly appeal to those present to contact police about what they saw and heard to help my team build a clearer picture of what took place. Equally, if you have video footage or images of the violent aftermath to the party, we need to hear from you.”
Chief Superintendent Jason Gwillim, Borough Commander East Area Command Unit, said, “My thoughts are with Jordan’s family and friends at this devastating time. The violence used has rightly caused concern, not only amongst the wider community, but the family and friends of the young people who were there.
“We are continuing to work with our partners and the local authority, and speaking regularly with community leaders to brief them on our response. Violence has no place on our streets and we will continue to use all the resources available to us to tackle anyone carrying a weapon.”
•Anyone who was at the party or witnessed the fight or has any other information is requested to call the dedicated incident room number, 020-8345 3985, and quote reference CAD7737/23 June. Alternatively, you can call Crimestoppers on 0800-555 111, where you can give information anonymously.
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