London experienced another violent bank holiday this weekend after a young footballer was stabbed to death in Hackney and a man savagely beaten in the Isle of Dogs.

17-year-old Jahmal Mason-Blair from Dalston died after being stabbed in the neck in the early hours of Saturday morning on Amhurst Road.

His grief stricken father, Wesley Blair, was hospitalised, collapsing when hearing that his son was dead - the teens mother, Tetela Rafael, who lives in Florida is on her way to the UK.

Jahmal, of Colvestone Crescent, was a pupil at Hackney Free and Parochial School - a specialist sports college - had been given a trial at Reading Football Club, and attended Tottenham Hotspur development centre for young players.

13-year-old suspect 'expelled for stabbing' - mass brawl

The 13-year-old boy being quizzed by murder detectives was reportedly expelled from school after stabbing a pupil with a math’s compass.

Cops have been given an extra 36 hours to detain the boy but have until midday today to either charge or release him -  he was arrested on Saturday evening.

Neighbours have reported a mass brawl just after midnight and saw about 20 boys, one said:

"It looked like there was a little one trying to have a fight with somebody else, I just heard lots of shouting, then they all split off into different directions. I don't know what happened next."

Isle of Dogs attack

Meanwhile a man in his 20s is fighting for his life after a vicious beating in the Isle of Dogs.

Police found him bleeding in the street on Westferry Road near the old fire station around 3.25am Monday

He is in a critical condition with serious head injuries

A man in his 30s is being quizzed over the assault.

Damilola father: "bring back death penalty"

On Monday, Richard Taylor, father of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor who was fatally stabbed in Peckham, south London, in 2000, called for the reintroduction of the death penalty.

He said he was "very, very upset" about Jahmal's death adding that the death penalty "would make people think twice".

28 teenagers were killed in violent incidents in the capital last year – on Saturday Jahmal became the ninth this year.

Youth worker "all our work has blown up in our faces"

Over 1,800 people have joined a Facebook group set up in memory of Jahmal, most of his pals were form the Jack Dunning estate, in Hackney, where Jahmal lived until recently.

The group's creator Habeeb Adesanu wrote:

"Jahmal was a great son, great brother and a great friend and he will be dearly missed.

"Knowing that we're not going to see you play football, Or see that smile again. It will truly hurt us."

Ashleigh Willer, who had known Jahmal for more than 14 years, wrote:

"I know football was your passion and it was a shame to know that you’re not going to be able to pursue your career as a professional footballer, but in my eyes you were a professional from the beginning."

Carl Sanderson, from Hackney's Concorde Centre, wrote:

"As a youth worker I felt that everything we could have done to stop these things from happening has just blown up in our face.

* Click video to see the young footballer doing what he loved