The mother, brother and sister of 16-year-old Harry Pitman, who was stabbed to death while out watching a new year’s fireworks display, have been joined by mourners for a vigil in his memory.
A crowd gathered at Downhills Park in Haringey, north London, bearing flowers and balloons. They were joined by residents of Primrose Hill, where Harry died late on Sunday evening.
At the vigil, Harry’s brother said he wanted his name to be chanted in the 16th minute of the next Tottenham Hotspur match, while some mourners sang football chants related to the club. Flowers were attached to the railings of the football court at the park.
A Primrose Hill resident, Amy McKeown, called it an “absolutely tragic and devastating incident”, while the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, said the tragedy was “senseless”, adding: “I’m truly devastated for the family and friends of this young man.”
McKeown has been among a vocal group demanding more action in Primrose Hill, said to have increasingly been the scene of antisocial behaviour. Residents have complained the park – the summit of whose hill is one of London’s most popular viewing points – became a hotspot during Covid lockdowns, and has remained so with people holding parties ever since.
One resident, who wished not to be named, described the stabbing as “tragic but inevitable” because of antisocial behaviour. According to the head of the local community association, a group of residents has been warning for some time that “something was going to happen”, although not necessarily on the scale of the tragedy that unfolded on New Year’s Eve.
But Mike Hudspeth said the community has become increasingly polarised in recent months. “One faction of the community has been saying something is going to happen; something is going to give,” he said on Tuesday. “And other factions have said the opposite.”
The Metropolitan police emphasised there was no specific link between antisocial behaviour in the area and the new year fireworks event at which Harry was killed – and said they had received nearly 30% fewer calls about antisocial behaviour in 2023 than in the previous year. Nevertheless, it remained one of the three priorities for officers in the area, and a key issue for local residents.
“There have been videos showing brawls … and shop windows being smashed,” said Hudspeth, adding that residents had also complained about people urinating in gardens after impromptu raves in the park.
Some have expressed staunch support for a plan to install permanent gates and close the park during night-time for part of the week. Hudspeth said the community association was neutral onthat, but acknowledged it had caused intensive debate.
McKeown is part of a group who believe the measure would not solve the problem – and could even make it worse, saying people wanting to use the park after dark would then jump over the gates and would be entering a completely unmanaged space.
She called the local divisions “sad”, adding that both camps acknowledged the same problem, differing only in how they proposed to solve it.
But another resident, Ian Mabb, said he did not believe the raves and the resultant antisocial behaviour were a big issue. “We were all twentysomething once,” he said.
Mabb said a greater problem was some local residents “not wanting the riff-raff around”, adding that the area – one of London’s more affluent – had lost much of its community feel in recent years.
