Friday, March 8, 2013

'This man is worrying me on the bus': Prophetic tweet of 16-year-old girl a month before she was stabbed to death on her journey to school

Christina Edkins  
A teenage girl was stabbed to death in front of terrified commuters yesterday on a bus taking her to school.
Christina Edkins, 16, who had tweeted of fears about men following her on public transport, was in her uniform on the top deck of the bus in Birmingham city centre when she was stabbed in the neck by a man, witnesses said.

The rush-hour attack took place in front of horrified passengers, who are thought to have included other schoolchildren.
Some fought to save her life but Christina, who was travelling alone, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly afterwards.Held: A 22-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of her murder after a huge manhunt was launche
 Held: A 22-year-old man was later arrested on suspicion of her murder after a huge manhunt was launched

A 22-year-old man was arrested 100 yards from where the attack took place.
Last night, friends and family paid tribute to the victim, describing her as a ‘bright and popular’ young girl.
Her parents Jason, 42, and Kathleen, 47, and siblings Joanne, 24, and Ryan, 18, were said to be ‘deeply distressed’.
Police said they were treating the murder as a ‘random attack’ and do not believe Christina knew her killer.

Only weeks ago, however, she had told friends about a strange man lurking near her on the bus. ‘This man is worrying me on the bus, keeps getting up and walking up and down stairs and sitting in different places,’ she wrote on Twitter.
Christina, who recently turned 16, had also told friends she hated travelling on public transport, saying she could not wait for her next birthday when she could start to drive.Show of solidarity: Christina's classmates hold hands as they take flowers to the scene of her stabbing
 Show of solidarity: Christina's classmates hold hands as they take flowers to the scene of her stabbing

In other messages on Twitter, she wrote of feeling unable to trust more than a few people in her life and just the day before she was killed she asked her followers: ‘Why can’t something go right for once?’
The teenager, who wanted to become a nurse, was killed as she travelled to school to sit a mock GCSE exam, friends said.
She had got on the First West Midlands number 9 bus at about 7.30am close to her home in Birmingham city centre and was travelling to Leasowes Community College in Halesowen, about five miles away.
Shortly after she got on the bus and sat on the top deck, a man who was already on board suddenly pounced, knifing her to death in a ‘sporadic and very quick’ attack.
Witnesses said she was stabbed in her neck as the bus was slowing for the next stop, allowing her attacker to escape.


The driver called 999 and horrified passengers gave Christina CPR at the scene on Hagley Road, a main commuter route.
Paramedics arrived quickly but despite frantic attempts to save Christina, her injuries were too severe.

Shortly afterwards Darren Bent, from Birmingham, said: ‘Some guy has just stabbed and killed a schoolgirl right in front of my missus on the number 9 bus on her way to work and she had to give CPR. The guy did it as the bus was about to stop and ran off.’
A Twitter user added that a friend ‘was on the bus and a girl was stabbed in the neck’.

Police launched a manhunt involving more than 100 officers, some armed, and described the murderer as an ‘extremely dangerous’ black male in his early-20s wearing a top with a tiger motif.
A man who is believed to be from a strict Christian family from Mbabane, Swaziland, was arrested a few hours later on suspicion of murder after a chase behind a Morrisons supermarket. Police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack.
Officers are questioning the suspect, doing forensic tests and trawling through CCTV evidence from cameras on the bus.

They are also looking at Christina’s online profiles as part of the investigation but said there was ‘nothing to suggest she was being targeted’. 

Christina’s family was too distraught to speak yesterday at their terraced maisonette in inner-city Ladywood, Birmingham.

Lee Barton, whose daughter Marnie was best friends with Christina, described her as a ‘sweet, innocent young girl’.

Mr Barton, 46, from Hockley, Birmingham, said: ‘I’ve spoken briefly to Christina’s father on the phone.’
Asked how Mr Edkins was, Mr Barton replied: ‘You can imagine.’
Mr Barton’s daughter, who has known Christina since they were three, wrote on Twitter: ‘I just don’t want to believe it, I’m literally heartbroken. She’s still my best friend, no matter what.’
Friends said Christina’s mother, who works at Tesco, sent her daughter to a school outside the city centre to improve her prospects.

Rebecca Bennett, 33, whose daughter Laura was close friends with Christina, said: ‘She was a smashing girl.
‘Kathleen sent Christina to school in Halesowen because she wanted her to have a good education.’
Yesterday, friends gathered at the school gates and laid flowers.


Headmaster Neil Shaw said: ‘Christina was a bright and popular student much loved by staff and students alike. We are deeply saddened to hear this tragic news and our thoughts and hearts go out to her family and everyone who knew her.’

He added that school friends were being counselled to help them come to terms with her death.
Friends also wrote of their heartbreak on social networking sites and 20,000 people ‘liked’ a Facebook tribute page.

The attack happened a week after police announced a month-long operation to tackle bus crime in the city, involving putting plain-clothed officers on some services.
Detective Superintendent Richard Baker of West Midlands Police said: ‘This is a tragic case and the victim’s family are devastated.’
DAILYMAIL


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