A teenager knifed to death after being ambushed by a masked gang was a “clean-hearted” boy who was in the “wrong place, at the wrong time”, his friends said today.

The 17-year-old student, named locally as Mohammed but known as Little Mo, died of his injuries in hospital after he was attacked by a gang on a Battersea estate on Sunday morning.

He was killed as he attempted to flee attackers on his bicycle.

A friend of the teenager who is also 17, last night laid flowers at the spot where Mohammed was fatally stabbed in the York Road estate.

The friend said: “He was a clean hearted boy. He was only 5ft that’s why he was known as Little Mo. I can’t understand why anyone would want to this. It’s getting out of hand. He was a lovely person. He studied with my brother.”

The student added: “It’s dangerous on the streets. Things are getting ridiculous it’s very scary. I just try to keep my head down. If you ask me Little Mo was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I have shed a tear over this. He just didn’t deserve it.”

Schoolfriends at South Thames College in Wandsworth paid tribute to Mohammed on social media.

One posted a video of the teenager smiling to Instagram under the caption: “I’m tired of this s***. My lil bro is gone now I’ll never see that face again. I’m gonna miss the kid.”

According to eyewitnesses the teenager, of Somali origin, was hunted down by a gang in balaclavas and wielding machetes.

He was heard screaming repeatedly “they have stabbed me, help me I am going to die.”

Locals tried to help him but he later died in hospital.

Family friend Muna Nur has visited the teenager’s mother as the Somali community rallies around them. The teenager’s father is a taxi driver and both were said to be “devastated”.

She said: “They are very sad and in a bad way. They are devastated. We all went round they are in such distress. They have no idea why this has happened.”

Troy Best, whose son was close friends with Mohammed, said: “It’s very sad and his family and friends are absolutely distraught.

“We hope the police can catch up with the people who did this very soon, this violence has to stop.

“We have to start taking time to talk to the youth out here because they are dying before they have even lived. All some of them need is a bit of guidance.

“It hurts my heart to see so many young people dropping like flies.”

Another friend said: “He was a good boy, not trouble. We just honestly don’t know why he was attacked. He was studying and was a good person. He was a little guy but had a big character. We will all miss him.”

Murder squad detectives are hunting for the group while forensic officers have been scouring the York Road estate where the incident happened.

Residents and friends of the teenager have been laying flowers in tribute to him.

A poignant note posted to a tree next to the spot where the teenager collapsed with fatal injuries into a car bonnet said: “Rest in peace we did not know you but our thoughts are with your family. Rest in peace. Stop knife crime.”