The teenager who repeatedly stabbed a gang member in a shocking attack on a 151 bus will avoid jail after the court accepted he was acting in self-defence.

The 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, knifed the teenager in the shoulder on Friday, October 24, last year, in Rosehill, but was able to walk away from Croydon Crown Court on Monday, August 24, without a prison term after the jury found him not guilty of two counts of grievous bodily harm.

He was, however, sentenced to a nine-month youth rehabilitation order, a nine-month suspension order and required to attend eight impact knife awareness sessions after being found guilty of owning an offensive weapon.

During the trial the court heard the teenager had been caught up in a gang feud.

According to his defence a member of the Tooting Trapstars accused the defendant of being in the Stick ’em Up (SUK) gang, and had threatened to knife him the day before the attack.

The defendant denied ever being part of a gang. The victim declined to give evidence.

Defence lawyer Gregory Fishwick told the court that on Friday, October 24, two Tooting Trapstars members threatened to kill and stab the teen as he came out of school and followed him to a bus stop in Sutton, telling him, “You are going to die”.

They continued their threats on the 151 bus and laughed as they said they would stab him.

Mr Fishwick continued by saying the eventual victim called another gang member on the phone and told him: “Get people to the next bus stop.”

It was at this moment, Mr Fishwick said, the defendant thought his life was at serious risk and lunged at the teen stabbing him four times around the shoulder.

He stopped when the knife he had taken from his parents’ kitchen snapped at the handle.

The defence showed CCTV footage they said showed the two gang members taunting his client.

Fearing for his own safety he jumped on to one of the boys, presses him against a woman and stabs him repeatedly.

The woman in the video looks panicked and can be seen to be screaming.

The friend lashes the defendant with his belt and shouts for the driver to stop.

Witness Tommy Write said in court: “I heard something about killing.

“The two boys were joking about it and laughing, but the defendant was not laughing at all.

“Then the defendant jumped up and lunged at one of the boys.

“The second boy ran up to the driver and told him to stop.

“Then I heard a pop coming from the two boys.”

It was at this point where the kitchen knife the defendant had taken from his kitchen snapped at the handle.

The blade remained inside the victim.

The boy staggered off the bus with his friend, making it 250 yards, before collapsing outside KFC in Rose Hill.

He was taken to St George’s Hospital with life-threatening injuries, but made a full recovery.