The brother of a man stabbed to death in Tooting has issued a plea for young people to stop carrying knives after another teenager was killed.

Byron Douglas-Letts laid his brother Lewis Elwin to rest in an emotional funeral and march through Tooting on June 17, two months after the 20-year-old's murder in Penwortham Road.

Four days after the funeral, 18-year-old Matthew Kitandwe was stabbed to death at his front door in Wayford Street, Battersea.

Mr Douglas-Letts said: "I give my love to the family.

"It is just becoming a familiar occurrence in London and it is a shame.

"The individuals that are responsible do not realise how much it affects the families and the communities.

"It makes us feel frightened."

The electrician said he believes more needs to be done to look at the reasons people choose to carry knives.

He said: "I understand that there are kids out there that do not have a lot to do, there are parents who don't know what their kids are doing.

"There are so many underlying issues going on.

"The youths are screaming out for direction, we have to give them something constructive to do.

"It is a sad occurrence but the truth of the matter is that until we start looking at the cause, this is going to be an ongoing problem."

April 19: Neighbourhood in shock after murder of Lewis Elwin in Tooting

Mr Douglas-Letts said he was kept away from gang culture because of the influence of his grandfather, who encouraged him into a trade at a young age.

He said: "I wanted to be a footballer, but I realised those dreams, in a sense, they fade away and then real life steps in.

"These youths have passion for something, but it is geared in the wrong direction.

"I grew up around violence but I turned it around because I had a positive role model in my granddad."

July 6: Tracing cars could be key to solving murder of teenager Matthew Kitandwe in Battersea

Mr Douglas-Letts said it was "no secret" the black community suffered from a lack of male role models.

He said: "If we do not have that guidance from someone we can relate to, we are going to be idle.

"When there is no positive role model then they are going to find it in their friends.

"Those friends are not the positive role models that we need.

"When we come together as a community, and it is not a black thing or a white thing, we are all affected by this, murder is a life cut short."

Following the killing of Mr Kitandwe, two people have been arrested on suspicion of murder. An 18-year-old was bailed until a date in August and another, aged 16, was bailed until a date in July.