Uk: Schoolgirl Stabbed To Death On Birmingham Bus

[News_Editor]

<p> UK: Schoolgirl stabbed to death on Birmingham bus </p>< br />

<p>2013-03-08 03:46:22 GMT+7 (ICT) </p><br /> <p>BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND (BNO NEWS) -- A young girl on her way to school was stabbed to death Thursday on a bus in the British city of Birmingham, local authorities said, prompting a major manhunt for the attacker. A 22-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of murder.<br /></p><br /><p>The incident happened at around 7:35 a.m. local time on Thursday when a man attacked a 16-year-old girl on a packed double-decker bus as it stood next to a bus stop on one of Birmingham's busiest roads. It is believed the attacker had already been on the bus when the victim got on board.<br /></p><br /><p>Officers and ambulance crews rushed to the scene after a member of the public called emergency services, but it was clear nothing could be done to save the victim and she was pronounced dead at the scene. The incident forced road closures during rush hour, causing traffic chaos in the area.<br /></p><br /><p>"This is a tragic case and the victim's family are devastated," said Detective Superintendent Richard Baker of West Midlands Police. He described the suspected knifeman as a black man wearing dark-colored clothing with a tiger's head or other large motif printed on the back. He may also have been carrying a bag.<br /></p><br /><p>The brutal murder sparked a major manhunt for the attacker, with local police supported by police dog handlers, firearms officers, and transport police. A man acting suspiciously and who matched the description of the suspect was arrested several hours later after a short footchase.<br /></p><br /><p>Police said the suspect, identified only as a 22-year-old man, was being held on suspicion of murder and is being questioned by officers. Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Department, working alongside Forensic Scene Investigators, said they were looking at CCTV systems which may have captured the incident on camera.<br /></p><br /><p>It is believed Thursday's attack was at random and that the victim, identified as Christina Edkins, was not deliberately targeted. <br /></p><br /><p>Neil Shaw, the headteacher at the victim's school, said the school is working with police and a team of counselors to provide support to students and staff. "Christina was a bright and popular student much loved by staff and students alike," he said. "We are deeply saddened to hear this tragic news and our thoughts and hearts go out to her family and everyone who knew her."<br /></p> <p>

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2013-03-08 </p>

[Scott]

Very sad. My condolences to the family and friends of the victim.

[Steely Dan]

RIP, yet another tragic case. Sadly, I'm no longer even surprised, the UK has descended into a state of utter lawlessness over the last couple of decades as crime figures show.

[NeverSure]

Condolences to the family and friends. These things are horrible beyond anything I can say.

[Chicog]

RIP, yet another tragic case. Sadly, I'm no longer even surprised, the UK has descended into a state of utter lawlessness over the last couple of decades as crime figures show.

Utter lawlessness? I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.

[phuketjock]

RIP, yet another tragic case. Sadly, I'm no longer even surprised, the UK has descended into a state of utter lawlessness over the last couple of decades as crime figures show.

Utter lawlessness? I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.

Your heartless humour is far from appropriate on this thread, you should be ashamed of yourself man.

R.I.P. Lass.

[jambco984]

I hope the right person is found.

RIP - Always sad news never good news.

[Chicog]

RIP, yet another tragic case. Sadly, I'm no longer even surprised, the UK has descended into a state of utter lawlessness over the last couple of decades as crime figures show.

Utter lawlessness? I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.

Your heartless humour is far from appropriate on this thread, you should be ashamed of yourself man.

R.I.P. Lass.

Heartless humour my arse, I'm criticising the ridiculous exaggeration. Save your faux indignation.

As it happens, the attacker has been sectioned, so this is more an issue of mental health than it is lawlessness.

The arrested man, a British national with links to Walsall, was not known to mental health units in the area and has no known link to the teenager.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Chicog

[phuketjock]

RIP, yet another tragic case. Sadly, I'm no longer even surprised, the UK has descended into a state of utter lawlessness over the last couple of decades as crime figures show.

Utter lawlessness? I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.

Your heartless humour is far from appropriate on this thread, you should be ashamed of yourself man.

R.I.P. Lass.

Heartless humour my arse, I'm criticising the ridiculous exaggeration. Save your faux indignation.

As it happens, the attacker has been sectioned, so this is more an issue of mental health than it is lawlessness.

Did it not occur to you that the criticism of some "ridiculous exaggeration" might be somewhat trivial in

the face of what this poor girls family is facing right now or is the ego boost you appear to get from your post

more important than this familys grief? Even a small token of sympathy would not go amiss surely?

Edited March 9, 2013 by phuketjock

[steve187]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

[Chicog]

Did it not occur to you that the criticism of some "ridiculous exaggeration" might be somewhat trivial in

the face of what this poor girls family is facing right now or is the ego boost you appear to get from your post

more important than this familys grief? Even a small token of sympathy would not go amiss surely?

Oh purlease go and curtain twitch elsewhere.

[Chicog]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

I don't see how policing could possibly have stopped a completely random and unexpected killing on a public bus. This was a lone assailant with seemingly no motive.

And after mental health assessments, he's been sectioned.

[chuckd]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

I don't see how policing could possibly have stopped a completely random and unexpected killing on a public bus. This was a lone assailant with seemingly no motive.

And after mental health assessments, he's been sectioned.

See any similarities between this guy and that Lanza kid?

[Chicog]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

I don't see how policing could possibly have stopped a completely random and unexpected killing on a public bus. This was a lone assailant with seemingly no motive.

And after mental health assessments, he's been sectioned.

See any similarities between this guy and that Lanza kid?

Absolutely. Although you can't say at this stage if this individual would have gone on to be a spree killer - hopefully now we will never find out.

[Chicog]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

Yeah...you also forgot the softly-softly policing demanded by the liberal elite..

They are safe in their ivory towers ...why care?

Can you actually tell us how the lack of "softly softly" policing (or police cuts) could have stopped a complete stranger walking down the aisle of a bus and plunging a knife into the chest of an innocent kid and killing her with one thrust?

A crime like this is almost impossible to prevent, because it's almost impossible to predict.

[Steely Dan]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

Yeah...you also forgot the softly-softly policing demanded by the liberal elite..

They are safe in their ivory towers ...why care?

And talking of cutbacks that wonderful euphemism 'care in the community' means many who should be sectioned are at large without adequate checks they are taking their medication. A few years back one such loon pushed a commuter to their death in front of a tube train.

[waza]

RIP Christina, sadly the victim of a deranged individual. My deepest condolences to her family and friends. Hopefully this individual will get the treatment he so desperately deserves and is no longer a threat to society.

[Chicog]

And talking of cutbacks that wonderful euphemism 'care in the community' means many who should be sectioned are at large without adequate checks they are taking their medication. A few years back one such loon pushed a commuter to their death in front of a tube train.

There's nothing to indicate that such a thing happened here, although he may have come from someone else; as above:

"The arrested man, a British national with links to Walsall, was not known to mental health units in the area"

[Steely Dan]

And talking of cutbacks that wonderful euphemism 'care in the community' means many who should be sectioned are at large without adequate checks they are taking their medication. A few years back one such loon pushed a commuter to their death in front of a tube train.

There's nothing to indicate that such a thing happened here, although he may have come from someone else; as above:

"The arrested man, a British national with links to Walsall, was not known to mental health units in the area"

Perhaps not so surprising as the suspects family come from Swaziland, I rather doubt they do mental health checks there and I'm pretty sure UK immigration is sufficiently stretched that sufficient background checks are not always carried out.

[Chicog]

I doubt it was a random killing.

By definition, it is. The killer had no ties to the victim. Could have been the voices in his head telling him any young white blonde girl was a witch or something for all we know.

What is it with the Birmingham rush hour?

The killing comes just weeks after two Big Issue sellers were stabbed to death during the evening rush hour in Birmingham.

[MacChine]

RIP, and my thoughts are with the family of Christina

as an ex uk bobby i agree with some of the comments here about lawlessness, things have got out of hand, and the vicious finacial cuts placed on the police service, are a blow to regaining control of crime in the uk

Yeah...you also forgot the softly-softly policing demanded by the liberal elite..

They are safe in their ivory towers ...why care?

And talking of cutbacks that wonderful euphemism 'care in the community' means many who should be sectioned are at large without adequate checks they are taking their medication. A few years back one such loon pushed a commuter to their death in front of a tube train.

So it would seem the conservatives are actually more to blame when social services are reduced that keep men like this from attacking- not the much bashed 'softly on crime libbies'

Edited March 10, 2013 by MacChine

[Steely Dan]

So it would seem the conservatives are actually more to blame when social services are reduced that keep men like this from attacking- not the much bashed 'softly on crime libbies'

I suppose it depends how far back you want to take the chain of cause and effect. The NHS, Social and prison services, Police and immigration are all stretched to breaking point, largely due to the massive influx of culture enrichment, that came with Tony Blair's Multicultural love child. The UK has been paying for this ever since. Also the Police are hamstrung by a culture of political correctness which means they are probably less likely to stop and search a black bloke in a hoodie for fear of being accused of racism. The conservatives have to make cuts to avoid bankruptcy, but imho the majority of the blame lays with the Lib-Left.

Edited March 10, 2013 by Steely Dan

[Bwanatickey]

When pictures where released of the suspect being arrested,his face was blacked out. (Why) It has become the norm in the U.K to cover up crime commited by immigrants,(or their offspring) especially knife crime. The public are very aware of this,but still the authorities are trying to play blind man's bluff with the public.

The stabbing of 2 big issue vendors in Birmingham was off subject to this crime. It was a turf war.

Now I know I should shut up and bury my head in the sand like an ostrich,and trust the authorities.

I have a daughter who gets the public bus to and from school in the U.K ,what can I do to protect her?

[Chicog]

When pictures where released of the suspect being arrested,his face was blacked out. (Why) It has become the norm in the U.K to cover up crime commited by immigrants,(or their offspring) especially knife crime.

Because until he is convicted, he is simply a suspect. Innocent until proven guilty (or insane), remember? They quite clearly described him as black if you're accusing them of covering it up (and they even gave his nationality).

[Steely Dan]

When pictures where released of the suspect being arrested,his face was blacked out. (Why) It has become the norm in the U.K to cover up crime commited by immigrants,(or their offspring) especially knife crime.

Because until he is convicted, he is simply a suspect. Innocent until proven guilty (or insane), remember? They quite clearly described him as black if you're accusing them of covering it up (and they even gave his nationality).

The Express gave his religion too - He came from a Christian family. A little too much irrelevant background info I think, but no prizes for guessing why it was mentioned.

Edited March 11, 2013 by Steely Dan

[transam]

Wonder how many UK natives have been buried via non natives.

[Chicog]

Wonder how many UK natives have been buried via non natives.

Because they're the only hate crimes?

[7by7]

This appears to have been a motiveless crime carried out on an innocent young girl by a deranged individual.

I am saddened, but unfortunately not surprised, that certain members want to bring race and religion into it.

What is it about certain individuals here who think it is fine for them to live in a foreign country or to have their foreign partners live in the UK, but wrong for others to do the same?

The word 'hypocrite' leaps to mind.

BTW, the identity of all arrested persons is kept hidden until such time as official charges are brought; regardless of the race, gender or religion of the suspect. This is because in the UK we have something called presumption of innocence!

Edited March 12, 2013 by 7by7

[transam]

This appears to have been a motiveless crime carried out on an innocent young girl by a deranged individual.

I am saddened, but unfortunately not surprised, that certain members want to bring race and religion into it.

What is it about certain individuals here who think it is fine for them to live in a foreign country or to have their foreign partners live in the UK, but wrong for others to do the same?

The word 'hypocrite' leaps to mind.

BTW, the identity of all arrested persons is kept hidden until such time as official charges are brought; regardless of the race, gender or religion of the suspect. This is because in the UK we have something called presumption of innocence!

I have videos (cctv) that l cannot post.

[7by7]

Cctv of what? The man on the bus? They've already been shown on British TV; with his face obscured, of course.