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Abstract

Four young men have been arrested after a City and Islington College student and another youth were stabbed in Clerkenwell on Monday afternoon.

The 18-year-old student victim, understood to be in Year 2 at the college, was attacked in Owens Field, a small park just outside the college’s Goswell Road campus.

A second 18-year-old was also stabbed. Both victims were taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening and remained there last night (Thursday).

One student, who did not wish to be named, said: “Two groups clashed and one or more people got stabbed. You come to college to learn and then this happens. It was mad. I think they must’ve known each other. It was like, organised.” The brawl is believed to have started in and around Amwell Street, where witnesses reported youths on bikes and mopeds and armed with knives chasing each other.

A staff member at Clerkenwell Parochial School, in Amwell Street, said a colleague saw a youngster with a knife outside the school and called police.

School head Matt O’Brien added: “By 3pm we were satisfied that they had left the area and we could hear a police siren so we didn’t need to change our arrangements, and we let the children leave the school.”

Three men, aged 18, 19 and 20, were arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm on Monday and have been bailed to a date in late July.

A fourth man, aged 19, was arrested on suspicion of violent disorder on Wednesday.

A source close to the police investigation said gang involvement has not been ruled out.

However, Islington CID and not the Met’s Trident Gang Command are investigating. They introduced a section 60 order in the area, allowing officers to stop and search people indiscriminately to prevent violence.

This was followed by a 48-hour dispersal order in Bunhill and Clerkenwell wards.

In a statement to the Tribune, the college said: “City and Islington College can confirm that one of our students was injured in an incident off-site. The student was taken to hospital, although his injuries are not thought to be serious.

“The college can confirm that there was no evacuation of the building. It is supporting the police with their investigation.”