Horrified classmates defend 'hero' pupil arrested for killing neighbour 'who attacked his mother'

James Killen, who killed a maniac attacking his mother, was at her bedside last night as doctors fought to save her life

The friend of a teenager arrested on suspicion of murder described him as a 'hero' today for trying to defend his mother from a knife attack.

Schoolboy James Killen, 18, was held by police after next-door neighbour Jonathan London, 46, died of stab wounds.

It is believed Mr London attacked the teenager's mother, former air stewardess Sandra Crawford, at her home in St Alban's, Herts on Friday.



Mr Killen was arrested on suspicion of stabbing to death Mr London but later released on bail.

It is believed the teenager, a student at nearby Sandringham School, attacked Mr London after he discovered him slashing his mother.

Today his close friend Ben Riddell, 18, also from St Albans, said 'kind and gentle' James was desperately trying to defend his petite mother.

Ben, a fellow sixth-form pupil at Sandringham, said James came downstairs and initially thought his mother was being punched repeatedly by Mr London.

He said: 'James is one of the kindest, most gentle people I've ever known.

'I went to the station last night for when James was released. I spoke to him very briefly and we brought him a KFC and some clothes. He was crying.

'Apparently at 8.40am on Friday morning the man just walked in off the street and James came downstairs to his mum's screams and thought the man was punching her.

'He jumped on his back and got the knife and managed to kill him. James panicked and was running down the street and got arrested at the end of the road.

'James' dad was at the police station but no one saw James until he got let out 12 hours later. He can't go back to his house or get his clothes or his phone.

'He went to see his mum in hospital yesterday. She has had heart surgery and is still heavily sedated.

'There had been no problems before whatsoever. My grandmother knows the Londons and apparently they are the nicest family. It's horrible situation for everyone.

'I've known James and his mum since I was three and have played football with him in the same team for ten years.

'It was a freak tragedy and James was a hero for getting his mum's attacker off her and for killing him.'

Jonathan London's elderly parents Jack and Maureen lived next door, and was described by his sister-in-law Jane London as epileptic and on medication.



Yesterday, an au pair described the bloody aftermath of the fight.



Livia Frakas, a 27-year-old au pair from Slovakia, was taking her employer’s two children to school when she heard a man’s ‘furious yell’ before finding Ms Crawford ‘covered in blood’ outside her £600,000 home in St Albans, Herts.



She said: ‘She was in a nightdress and pyjamas, blood was everywhere, all over her body and her face as well.’

She said a younger man, believed to be James, then emerged from the house looking ‘shocked and desperate’.



She added: ‘He was crying for help. He was in his school uniform. He was on the phone to the ambulance and I heard him give the name of the road.’

Police said there was no evidence of an ongoing dispute between the neighbours and they could find no reason for the attack.

Other neighbours described their shock as the drama unfolded.



One said: ‘Officers were getting out of the car with guns, there were paramedics on the scene – we just didn’t know what was going on.

Ambulances and police gather at the scene of the attack in St Albans



Then an air ambulance landed in a field at the local school – it was absolute chaos.’

He added that Ms Crawford and her son were ‘nice people, quiet, they keep themselves to themselves generally’.

Another nearby resident, who was walking his dog past the house as paramedics treated one of the victims, said: ‘I saw somebody on the lawn, they were trying to revive them.

‘There was a young lad there in a bit of a state.’

Police said Mr Killen had been bailed to ‘a date in June’ and they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack.

A local source said Mr London was known to take medication to control epilepsy. The source also revealed there were no records to suggest he had received any treatment at a mental health institution.



Another schoolfriend of James, who refused to give his name, said he is studying for his A-levels and is planning to go to university.



He said: ‘I have grown up with James and he is the nicest, most peaceful

person I know.



‘Nobody would have anything bad to say about him and I know he’s never had a violent encounter in his life.’



Ms Crawford is being treated at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.



