Teenager, 14, ‘ killed schoolboy for his ride’
A BOY of 14 will appear in court today charged with murdering a schoolboy outside a pizzeria after allegedly snatching his scooter.
Aspiring engineer Fares Maatou, 14, died while still in his school uniform after being stabbed and struck over the head repeatedly with an iron bar on Friday afternoon.
Friends said his attackers made off with his electric scooter as Fares lay dying in the street outside Zzetta Soul Fired Pizza in Canning Town, east London.
The schoolboy’s father is in hospital critically ill with coronavirus and only woke up from a coma six weeks before his son’s death, family friends said.
Fares’ mother was so distraught when she arrived at the blood-soaked crime scene that she fainted, witnesses told reporters.
Four teenagers have been arrested, including the youngster charged with murder and possession of an offensive weapon. He will appear at Stratford Youth Court today.
Two 15-year-olds have been released on bail and a third remains in custody.
Fares, whose family is originally from Algeria, has an older sister Amira and a brother.
Last night Amira, a Westminster Business School graduate, said the family was too upset to speak. A business owner who saw the attack said a FedEx delivery driver and one of Fares’ friends frantically tried to resuscitate him.
Another witness said: ‘They were just shouting at him “wake up, wake up, try to breathe”. Three or four of us were all shouting loudly “one, two, three”, so there was a rhythm for compression.’
Paramedics soon took over but Fares was declared dead at 4.30pm, just over half-an-hour after the attack.
Friends said he was fascinated with bikes and cars, and dreamed of becoming an engineer.
Floral tributes have been left at the scene spelling out LLF or ‘Long Live Fares’.
He is the 11th teenager to be knifed to death in the capital this year.