Detective says Kyall Parnell, 17, was acting aggressively towards 16-year-old boy before being killed on New Year’s Eve

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A teenager who was among four people stabbed to death in London over the new year period was carrying a knife himself and was seen acting aggressively towards his alleged attacker, a detective has told an inquest.

Kyall Parnell, 17, was stabbed at around 10.40pm in Tulse Hill, south London, on New Year’s Eve after his friends confronted another group who they had chased off a bus.



Three arrests have been made in connection with the killing but no one has been charged. An inquest heard that, at this stage, prosecutors had indicated that the alleged attacker would not be charged with a homicide offence because of a “real issue” of self-defence.

Det Insp Ian Titterrell, of the Metropolitan police’s homicide and major crime command, told Southwark coroner’s court that Parnell was stabbed after he confronted a 16-year-old boy.



He said Parnell had been seen acting “very aggressively” towards a member of the group who boarded the No 68 bus shortly after him and his friends.

“As those three males walked up to the top deck where Kyall and his friends were sitting, there was immediately a confrontation,” Titterrell said.

“The three males who had just got on at Tulse Hill got off the bus and they were pursued by Kyall and his friends, with two of the males seeking refuge in a convenience store.

“Witnesses had seen the chasing group in possession of knives and Kyall is seen in very clear CCTV on the route 68 bus to approach an individual in a very aggressive manner with his hand placed towards his left hip area – there was a suggestion of something glinting. A knife was found on Kyall afterwards.

“The male, fearing for his safety, has stabbed Kyall once in the chest. This stab wound pierced the heart and it’s that that led to his death.”

Moments before the stabbing, Titterrell said, “there were words to the effect of ‘stab him, finish him off’”, which the younger boy later told police caused him to fear for his safety, take the knife from his bag and stab the victim.



The 16-year-old, who was arrested and bailed, told police he had been stabbed before in attacks involving Parnell, from Thornton Heath, south London.

A postmortem examination gave a preliminary cause of death as a single stab wound to the heart. The inquest was opened and adjourned to a date to be fixed.

The killing came amid a spate of unrelated attacks in which three other young men were also stabbed to death across the city in the space of 24 hours.