If we blame zombie knives or police, those are just symptoms ...we need to focus on the cause

PROMISING footballer Kiyan Prince had his life ripped away in a moment of shocking violence 18 years ago.

- Ciaran McGrath

His father, Dr Mark Prince OBE, is frustrated by the knife crime epidemic that has taken many more lives since but is determined to steer young people onto the right path.

Kiyan, 15, had been on the verge of a professional contract with Queens Park Rangers when he was fatally wounded after intervening to protect a classmate in a fight at London Academy in Edgware, on May 18, 2006.

Hannad Hasan, 16, was jailed for life for Kiyan's murder.

Dr Prince, who founded the Kiyan Prince Foundation in 2008 in memory of his son, said: "Everyone was looking forward to seeing Kiyan's career flourish.

"Kiyan's character was taking him places and it would match up to his talent and it would just blow people away."