"I'm not going to die am I, boss man?," pleads the 18-year-old, cradling a stab wound on his arm. The shop floor, often trodden for emergency milk and late-night snacks, now quickly staining with pools of deep red blood.

For Clapton, this sight has become surprising but not entirely shocking. The daylight knife attack on Evering Road is just one of five horrific incidents within a one-mile radius since July 2024. Just days earlier, a 20-year old man was killed on nearby Bodney Road, a residential stretch hugged by a pre-school and nursery.

"It was pretty traumatising," the shop assistant told MyLondon, recalling how he watched a fight spiral through his front door, "I was on top of him, telling him he was going to be fine, but then the ambulance didn't come for 15 minutes. We all just got left to deal with it, it was awful."

Worryingly, this is the second time the shop assistant has dealt with a stabbing in his workplace, with the other happening in Tottenham.

Dubbed Murder Mile in the early 2000s, the area around Clapton's Upper and Lower Roads has gone through a drastic period of gentrification in recent years. Streets once notorious for gang violence and turf wars are now crowded with bakeries with queues out the doors, Michelin-approved small plates spots and one-bed flats on sale for £525k.

For some new 'Hackney-ites', such as Kienan, a barista on Evering Road, this past reputation seemed miles away. "Everyone around here is really friendly," he says, making his 12th flat white of the morning, "People come in for a chat, they tell me about their day, we've never had any trouble."

This all came came crumbling down, however, when a teenage boy and a bus driver were stabbed to death on the adjacent street, Benthal Road, within days of each other last summer. A street fight then claimed the life of Jade Anthony Barnett on Rushmore Road a month later.

Kienan feels this was the first time he was wary about being in Hackney. He said: "I wasn't really concerned about crime before but then this all happened so close, right in our neighbourhood. It really reminded me that I'm in London, that bad things are still going on." As he speaks, the omnipresent sirens of a police car race past.

Now seven months on, a floral tribute to Derek Thomas, the 53-year-old Go-Ahead employee killed on his way home from work, is shrivelled and decaying. Notes calling to "stop violence against innocents" and "get our kids out of gangs" are falling apart from rain damage, mere metres from happily playing children.

His alleged killer, Kamar Williams of Isle of Dogs, was arrested at Notting Hill Festival and is set to appear in court in June. At the time of Derek's death, residents told MyLondon they were 'distressed and angered' by what happened.

A Hackney Council litter picker said: "This is the park [Stoke Newington Common] I work in every day. You never think these things will happen so close to you," whilst Abbie, a resident of 25 years, shared that knife crime had replaced the gun crime she became accustomed to decades before.

Between 2000 and 2002, it's thought eight men were shot dead either on Clapton's 'Murder Mile' or the leafy avenues around it. The Metropolitan Police responded with a series of well-publicised operations, with then Hackney Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Peter Robbins stating: 'I fully accept that there are more shots discharged in the area possibly than anywhere else in Britain.'

While violent crime did fall between 2002/3 and 2013/14, according to figures from Hackney Council, the borough saw around 350 stabbings between 2012 and 2019. For the veteran residents of Clapton, the neighbourhood remains the same as it ever was.

"Crackney is still Crackney," sighs a long-serving shopkeeper, who has chosen to stay anonymous, "It's still as bad." He has worked just off Bodney Road, the scene of Clapton's latest fatal stabbing, for over a decade.

"The boy who died [20-year-old Jason Romeo] had been coming in here since he was a kid. He used to beg his mum for sweets. It's really sad what happened. He was a really quiet guy."

He also fears the young people who use his shop, those around 13 or 14, are being attracted to potential danger due to social media. He has often overheard and seen children talking about seeing 'gangsters' on their TikTok feeds.

The shopkeeper continues: "It's all about drugs or money, nothing else. They think it's great but in reality, it'll ruin their lives. I see it all the time."

For Joseph, a local key cutter, his main concern is his own children. He tells MyLondon he doesn't like them walking about Clapton but knows the area will continue to see violent crimes regardless. When asked about the Bodney Road stabbing, he scoffs "which one?"

"People shouldn't really be surprised by it anymore," he adds, "It's always been like this. I'm definitely not surprised when it happens now.

"Yeah I don't feel comfortable letting my kids out but I have to, they have a life too. Murder Mile still exists but that's just London, ain't it?"

Police still appealing for information

The Metropolitan Police is yet to arrest anyone in connection to the knife attack on Evering Road last month. It is believed a music video was being filmed at the time.

Detective Sergeant Andy Rice from the Central East Command Unit said: "I am keen to speak to anyone who has this footage as it could contain information that could assist this investigation.

""I would also urge anyone who has information that could help identify whoever is responsible to come forward and speak to us in confidence."

Witnesses are urged to call police on 101 or message @MetCC on X, referencing CAD4542/22Feb. Anonymous reports can also be made to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.