Joel Urhie, who dreamed of being a firefighter, was trapped in his bedroom in Deptford, South London after it was thought a gang had targeted his brother
THIS is the innocent boy of seven murdered in a feared gang arson attack on his family home.
Joel Urhie, who dreamed of being a firefighter, was trapped in his bedroom in Deptford, South London. It was thought a gang had targeted his brother.
A friend of seven-year-old arson murder victim Joel Urhie’s family told how the lad’s elder brother broke down yesterday and sobbed: “It should have been me.”
Joel died trapped in his bedroom after a fire was deliberately started at his home. His mum and sister escaped by leaping from a first-floor window.
It was thought Joel may have been the innocent victim of a gang who were attempting to target his 21-year-old brother Sam.
Sam, who is known to the police and has spent time in prison, was heard screaming: “It should have been me. Why not me to die?”
A friend said: “This might be because of something Sam did. He was involved with the wrong people. He used to live there before he went to prison and was there for a bit afterwards when he came out.
“He was apparently involved in gangs and stuff and it might be the case the people who did it were after him.”
Another friend told how Sam was grief-stricken as he visited mum Sophie, 49, and sister Sarah, 18, in a hospital where they were recovering from non-life threatening injuries.
Grace Gbenedio, 56, who went to the hospital with Sam, said: “While we were in the car he was just shouting, ‘Why him?’
“Then when we were at the hospital he said, ‘Oh, why not me? It should have been me. Why not me to die?’ ”
Joel’s home in Deptford, South London, was intentionally set alight early yesterday.
Neighbours said nurse Sophie screamed “Oh my boy, my boy” as firefighters tackled the blaze.
Sophie screamed: ‘My boy is in there!’
A murder inquiry began after investigators established the fire was started with an accelerant.
Grace told how she was woken by her daughter yelling: “There’s a fire at auntie’s house.
She said: “She saw Sophie and Sarah jump from the window.
“We went outside and saw them on the ground.
“Sophie was screaming, ‘My boy is in there, he’s still in the house’.
“Sarah was crying. I just held her. Sam arrived with two of his friends in a car. He wanted to get in the house but the police stopped him.”
THERE has been a rise in gang related killings in London in 2018.
FEBRUARY 3: Armed gang stabs to death youth worker Kwabena Nelson, 22, in Tottenham.
FEBRUARY 18: Rapper Lewis Blackman, 19, stabbed to death in Kensington.
MARCH 8: Kelvin Odunuyi shot dead by moped gang in Wood Green.
APRIL 2: Aspiring model Tanesha Melbourne, 17, killed in drive-by shooting in Tottenham.
APRIL 4: Tanesha’s friend and youth worker Israel Ogunsola, 18, stabbed to death in Hackney.
MAY 5: Rapper Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton, 17, shot dead in Camberwell amid tensions between rival drill acts.
JUNE 23: Drill artist Jordan Dougherty, 15, fatally stabbed outside party in Romford.
JULY 25: Latwaan Griffiths, 18, stabbed to death in Camberwell.
AUGUST 1: Moscow17 rapper Siddique Kamar, 23, stabbed to death on same Camberwell street where Barton died.
Joel’s dad John, who is estranged from Sophie, raced to the house after getting a phone call telling him of the fire.
He said: “The first person I saw was my daughter in an ambulance. Then they said, ‘Joel is dead’. He was just a little boy. Seven years old.
“It’s devastating. He was a very lovely boy, it’s a terrible loss.
“I don’t know why anyone would want to attack my family.”
The family yesterday issued a heartbreaking photo of Joel wearing a child’s play firefighter outfit at a birthday party.
They said he had dreamed of becoming a firefighter one day.
Cousin Sylvia MacNamara said she had seen Joel only last week.
She said: “He was a sweet boy. He loved doing his ABCs.
“Every time you’d visit, he’d get so excited to tell you a new word. He was so jolly. I can’t believe it, I’m in shock.
“It’s doesn’t make any sense. I don’t know anyone who would want to hurt them.”
Mcklushia Myles, whose son was Joel’s best friend, said Sam had stayed with his mother for several months after release from prison.
He said he was told Sam had got into trouble “once or twice’” in the past over knife crime. Another neighbour said the house was home to just Sophie and Joel for much of the year as Sarah was at university.
She said Joel had mild autism and added: “Sophie was so dedicated to him, they would go everywhere together.
“This is going to tear her apart. She is such a sweet woman and he was such a happy boy.
“She needs us all to come together and help her now.”
Neighbours of Joel’s family said they were woken by screams just before 3.30am and saw . Andre Pavanello, 21, said Sophie and Sarah were hanging out of a window screaming.
She added: “They smashed the window and had to jump out because the fire was getting too big. I think the boy was trapped inside his room.”
Clive Stagg, 64, said: “I’ve never seen anything like it. The whole house was ablaze.” Detective Superintendent Jane Corrigan said: “An innocent seven-year-old boy has lost his life in what should have been the safest place for him — his own home.
“The pain his family must be enduring at this time is difficult to imagine. It’s truly shocking.”
Homicide detectives said they were keeping an “open mind” about the motive for the fire. The fire brigade said Joel was dead by the time firefighters got to him.
