Children 'traumatised' by fatal stabbing video

Children have been left "traumatised" after watching a video of the fatal stabbing of a local 17-year-old boy, youth workers said.

Six teenagers have been charged with murdering Bilal Nisar in broad daylight at Kingsway Recreation Ground in Luton on 24 July.

The director of youth organisation CYCD, Firoza Abdool-Sathar, said the death had been "devastating", and footage had circulated on social media.

Speaking at a peace walk in Luton on Sunday, she said the community had turned out "in solidarity" with affected families.

"When we started our holiday clubs, our summer camps, a lot of kids had already seen the social media, the footage of the incident itself," she said.

"A lot of kids are traumatised, so, instead of actually starting the youth club, we've had to create a workshop and address that issue.

"We've got little hubs where they can go and speak to somebody."

Det Ch Insp Nick Gardner said: "Our thoughts remain with Bilal's family at this time.

"We are still seeking two further individuals who we believe were involved in the incident and we are asking them, or anyone who knows of their whereabouts, to contact us."

Khtija Malik, independent Luton Borough councillor for the neighbouring Challney ward, said she had never heard so much concern from women in her community.

"I'm constantly being approached by women from the South Asian community," she said.

She said many were asking "what is it we can do as women?"

"As mothers, there's always something that you can know or maybe see, but do they know how to deal with this?" said Malik.

"What we find is that the women are constantly excluded from conversations or [decisions] about things. So I think it's really important that we make sure we include women when we're having these conversations."

Tariq Khalil, who lives in the area, said the death of Bilal was "not an isolated tragedy".

"We see that there's a problem. But now how do we tackle this problem?" he said.

"I think we need to stop playing the blame game. I've heard all sorts this week — mosques, schools, lack of youth centres, the council's getting blamed — but we have resources.

"Let's put the resources together and see what change we can make from the resources that we have."

As a member of gym club Luton's Strongest, Khalil set up equipment in Kingsway Recreation Ground for young people to use while the peace walk concluded.

"I think there's definitely a role by people like us from this community, who are brought up in Luton, who've lived let's say 'street up' and done quite well from a career perspective," he said.

"There's a lot we can offer. We can try to relate some of what they're going through and see if we could use the gym and fitness as a kind of an outlet for them."

Councillor Malik also said more education was needed around how to use public bleed kits.

"Many women have English as their second language, and would struggle with the instructions," she said.

She said it would take "collective effort" to prevent further violent deaths.

"This is what, as human beings in Luton, we can do to stop another death. This is so tragic," she said.

"Enough is enough is enough. I don't want to hear about another life lost."

Do you have a story suggestion for Beds, Herts or Bucks? Contact us below.

Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.