Victim 'gentle, loving and kind'

The mother of a teenager stabbed to death outside a bar in south London says she forgives his killers and takes strength in her Christian faith.

Oliver Kingonzila, 19, died after being found with stab wounds outside the E Bar in Croydon on Saturday. Two men, both aged 18, have been arrested.

Today, his mother described Oliver as "the gentle one, very loving, very kind. He will be there to help you".
"I don't have room for bitterness because bitterness cannot take me to heaven," Mrs Kingonzila said. "Oliver is with Jesus, he was baptized and he is in heaven."

Oliver's father, Kimbeni Kingonzila echoed his wife's strength in her faith.
"We believe in Jesus," he said.

"By my own strength I cannot (forgive) because it is my baby. The spirit of God has told me to that I must forgive, so I forgive. These boys need Jesus."

Elodia Kingonzila, the victim's 22-year-old sister, said the knife crime in her south London community is now out of control.
"You cannot go out anymore, you are not safe. You could be sitting on the bus, somebody comes and starts an argument for a stupid reason - knife," she said before warning young people to stay away from nightclubs.
"Stay at home, clubbing is not a life, there's always knives everywhere you go these days."

Miss Kingonzila described her young brother as a joker who loved to laugh with his family and preen in front of the mirror before an evening out with friends.
"Ollie was a very outgoing person, he was always laughing," she said.