London family puts up £50k reward to hunt down killer of teenage son gunned down 5 years ago
The family of Amaan Shakoor, who was shot in the head outside Walthamstow leisure centre in April 2018, and the police believe people were not coming forward to cooperate with them.
Desperately hoping to hunt down their teenage son's murderer, a family in London has put up a reward of £50,000. It was on April 2, 2018, when Amaan Shakoor was shot in the head outside Walthamstow leisure centre after two men approached him. The 16-year-old succumbed to his injuries in hospital the next day with the family by his side.
In almost five years since then, no one has been charged with the minor's killing although two men were arrested but released under investigation, MyLondon reported.
The police have sought the public's help to crack the case by urging them to "break the wall of silence".
Mohammed Shakoor, father of Amaan, told ITV News that they were still looking for answers and for people to come forward to produce evidence, big or small.
"Any evidence we would appreciate, people coming forward and speaking to the police and assisting them," he said.
According to the senior Shakoor, his life now revolves around finding justice for his dead son and he visits his son's grave every day while 'dealing with it'.
Speaking about people not disclosing information related to the crime, the bereaved father said if they could imagine what it is like to visit the cemetery daily for five years in search of answers and grieving, they would have a heart and conscience and come forward to speak to the police.
Detective chief inspector Kelly Allen said they knew that there are people who know what had happened and why and called the situation "frustrating".
“We know that there are people who must have information about what happened, and why. His family has been left with unanswered questions and it is frustrating that no one is prepared to provide them with the details they so desperately need to hear," he was quoted as saying.
Inquiry into grooming gangs faces turmoil after chair Jim Gamble quits.
Four victims on advisory panel resign, demanding Jess Phillips step down.
Phillips accused of misleading MPs over inquiry’s scope.
Baroness Casey brought in to support inquiry after political fallout.
THE GOVERNMENT’s grooming gang inquiry has been thrown into crisis after its expected chair, Jim Gamble, quit, calling the process a “toxic political football”.
His resignation came after Annie Hudson, another frontrunner, also withdrew, and four victims on the inquiry’s advisory panel stepped down, reported The Times.
Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister overseeing the inquiry, faced mounting pressure to resign after she was accused of lying to MPs.
Victim Fiona Goddard told The Times Phillips had denied that the inquiry’s scope could be widened to include other forms of sexual abuse, but later evidence appeared to contradict this.
The four victims said they would rejoin the inquiry if Phillips stepped down.
In a letter to home secretary Shabana Mahmood, they wrote: “Her departure would signal you are serious about accountability and changing direction.” Goddard told Times Radio: “I think that there needs to be an apology swiftly followed by Jess Phillips’s resignation.”
Kemi Badenoch and other MPs also called for Phillips to go. In response, prime minister Keir Starmer brought in Baroness Casey to support the inquiry, saying it would “never be watered down”.
Gamble, former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, said in his resignation letter that political point scoring had overshadowed the inquiry’s purpose.
“If our politicians cannot come together on an issue as important as this, that is a matter of great concern,” he said.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was disappointed by the withdrawals and would take time to find the right chair.
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