Inquest opened after schoolboy was repeatedly stabbed on London bus

Members of the public tried to help a 14-year-old boy who was stabbed repeatedly on a London bus on the way home from school, an inquest has heard.

Kelyan Bokassa, an aspiring rapper, was fatally injured on a route 472 bus in Woolwich, south-east London, on Tuesday last week.

An inquest into his death was opened and adjourned by Coroner Michelle Haste at London Inner South Coroner’s Court during a virtual hearing on Friday afternoon.

Detective Chief Inspector Sarah Lee told the hearing that police were called at around 2.28pm on January 7 by a bus driver reporting a stabbing on the bus.

She said police understand that Kelyan boarded the bus at 2.06pm at North Greenwich train station and then two male suspects boarded the vehicle at 2.26pm.

“They went up to the top deck where Kelyan was sitting and they immediately attacked him.

“Members of the public who were boarded on the bus called for help and asked the driver to stop, which he did, on Woolwich Church Street, and the suspects fled the bus.

“A number of passengers tried to help Kelyan. He came down the stairs and they placed him on a seat on the lower deck,” DCI Lee said.

She said the bus driver called for aid, and police and London Ambulance Service attended, but Kelyan could not be saved and he died at the scene.

The inquest heard a provisional cause of death has been given as a stab wound to the right thigh.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16 – who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Bromley Youth Court in separate hearings on Thursday this week each charged with Kelyan’s murder and are due to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Bromley Youth Court heard that Kelyan was stabbed repeatedly on his journey home from school and died from a severed femoral artery.

A 44-year-old woman who was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender has been released under investigation.

At a vigil held last week at a church overlooking the bus stop where he was stabbed, one of Kelyan’s friends said the boy had a “pure heart” and would “always be there for you”.