A 13 year-old Danish boy has been stabbed to death by another boy his own age in a fight over a girl.
Social services in the south Jutland town of Soderborg say both boys were known to them and come from troubled backgrounds.
The incident occurred on 20th July when the former friends, who had both dated the same girl, met to resolve their differences. A fight broke out in front of a group of teenage witnesses, including the girl in question, before the fatal stabbing occurred.
“They apparently arranged over the internet – on Facebook or something similar – to meet on the field and fight it out, because they were angry with each other,” Hans Roost, deputy assistant commissioner for Southern Jutland Police, told Politiken. “They both liked the same girl. They met and they shouted. Then they began throwing punches and wrestling,” said Roost. “Then one pulled out a knife.”
Police say the victim was stabbed once in the lung, but also elsewhere, and died in hospital shortly afterwards. The knife has still not been recovered.
Despite the age of criminal responsibility being lowered from 15 to 14 last year, it is unlikely that the teenager will face charges as he was just two months away from his 14th birthday. He has instead been turned over to the social services department of Sonderborg Council.
The local authority has confirmed that both boys were known for having social problems. The victim lived in a council-owned residence for troubled youths, and was “making good progress” prior to his death, according to reports.
“We had already put in motion some precautionary measures that were deemed necessary for both boys,” Marianne Korsgaard Helms, leader of the council’s child and family welfare department, said in a statement. “But these cases are so clear that we can hardly come to the conclusion that the council’s social support for the boys was optimal.”