An 18-year-old British actor with a role in the upcoming Harry Potter film has died after being stabbed during a fight outside a London bar.

Rob Knox was killed on Saturday during a fight with a number of youths in the south-eastern suburb of Sidcup, police have revealed. A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Knox’s parents, Colin and Sally, have since released a statement, labeling the young actor as “kind and respectful.”

“Rob was kind and thoughtful and would always help out others,” the statement said. “The life and soul of the party, he was very outgoing, loved sports, and would always strike up a conversation with people.

“He was respectful to others and adored by all his family and friends.”

Friends involved in the fight have come forward with eyewitness reports, claiming that they believe the knife fight which took Knox’s life was a “revenge attack” over a “row over the phone” from the previous week.

“Rob was just trying to help out,” 18-year-old Tom Hopkins said. “He was like that. I grabbed the knife, I didn’t know at the time that [the attacker] had another knife. It was just chaos.”

Hopkins was stabbed in the head in the scuffle, which began outside a bar in Sidcup when the youths saw a man waving two knives around through the window. Knox allegedly lost his life trying to protect his brother, Jamie, who was also involved in the fight.

Warner Bros, the film studio behind the Harry Potter movies, has also released a statement on the young actor’s tragic death. “We are all shocked and saddened by this news and at this time our sympathies are with his family,” a rep for the studio said.

Knox had only recently finished filming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince with high-profile co-stars Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. In the film, the 18-year-old plays Ravenclaw student Marcus Belby.

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