Friends of the 17-year-old stab victim have claimed that “gang members were tasked with murders to gain entry to groups” or the killer may have been “dared to stab a random person to show their loyalty”. Police have said the killer was a black teenager who knifed Ms Chesney in the back in silence at about 9.25am in Romford’s Harold Hill before running off . But Detective Chief Superintendent Shabnam Chaudri said the police “still don’t have any idea” why Ms Chesney was attacked as he refused to speculate on whether the attack could have been gang-related.
Friends took to social media to speculate Ms Chesney could have been murdered as part of a gang initiation, with her grandmother, Debbie telling friends it was “a possibility”.
Local resident Jerry Carr said that gangs have been a problem in the immediate area for years, leaving locals “scared to go out at night”.
The 57-year-old said: "I was told that there was an argument in that park. Then those boys came back half-an-hour and attacked her.
”To be quite truthful people are too scared to go out after dark around here. It's been going on for years.
Jodie Chesney was stabbed to death in Romford on Friday night (Image: REUTERS/FACEBOOK )
"When you walk past you can always smell marijuana. You see young boys hanging outside the flats, selling drugs.
"There are so many gangs, that's why they put so much CCTV in. They barely have any in the parks, that's why they go there.
"Someone was stabbed by someone on a bike just at the end of the road recently. Someone tried to take the bike off him.
"It makes me feel scared to go out. Especially as you get
