Police searching for five suspects in Jaden Moodie murder

The Guardian, UK: Police are searching for five suspects involved in the murder of a 14-year-old boy who was rammed off his moped and stabbed in east London. Jaden Moodie, a keen boxer, died on 8 January after the “barbaric” attack in Bickley Road, Leyton.
Five men in a black B Class Mercedes smashed into his moped before three of them got out and stabbed him more than seven times. Speaking at the scene of Jaden’s death on Tuesday, DCI Chris Soole said the community was “up in arms” about the “particularly barbaric” death. He said: “They are as disgusted as we are regarding this crime, this tragic, cowardly crime, as, quite rightly, a community up in arms about the death of a 14-year-old boy should be.”
Officers will return to the scene of the crime on Tuesday evening, one week since Jaden’s death, to appeal for witnesses. They will also visit Carlisle Road, where the Mercedes was dumped.
Appealing for the media to respect the privacy of Jaden’s family, Soole said: “God only knows what they’re going through as a family with the death of a 14-year-old boy killed in tragic circumstances.
“The death of anybody is a tragic incident anyway, but the death of a 14-year-old does shock to the core.” Soole added: “A lot of people, especially in the age of social media, are very quick to make a judgment on a person’s character, often with third party information. They make these judgements not really knowing Jaden or indeed his familial or social circles.
“I’m focusing on the death of a 14-year-old boy and those responsible, and bringing those people who are responsible to justice as quickly as I possibly can for Jaden, for his family.”
His comments came as Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, attacked government cuts to policing after an freedom of information request revealed Scotland Yard’s murder investigation unit had lost a quarter of its officers and staff over the past decade.
Last year, there were 315 fewer police and civilians working in the Metropolitan police’s homicide and major crime command (HMCC) than in 2008, the figures released to the Press Association reveals.
The unit’s overall strength decreased by 26% over the 10-year period, while the number of major investigation teams (MITs) dropped from 26 to 18. By 2018, there were half the number of officers and other staff working within those specialist teams than a decade earlier, data from Britain’s largest police force shows.
Scotland Yard said its HMCC included murder detectives as well as specialist operations, such as Winter Key – its child sex abuse inquiry – and investigations into alleged electoral fraud and the Grenfell Tower fire.