‘We can’t believe it happened. He had so much to live for’

two hours before he died her son had sent a loving message in a text to Claire Wheatley, his girlfriend of four years.

Mrs Wright said: “He was very popular, he was easy-going, he had a lot of friends.

“He worked hard and he was the perfect son. We can’t believe what’s happened. We’re all in a state of shock.”

She added: “I’m absolutely devastated. He had so much more life to live. He was going to Las Vegas next week with his friends.

“He played lots of football. He got on with everyone and was a perfect young man.

“He had so many plans with his girlfriend. They were talking about getting a house together and having a baby.

“He and his friends from university met up in Blackheath, had lunch, dinner, some drinks. At 10pm he texted his girlfriend to say that he loved her.

“I don’t think there was any kind of altercation or fight. Someone picked a fight with him, punched him, and he fell backwards, maybe hit his head, and that was that.

“I think he stopped breathing when he hit the floor. His friends tried to give him resuscitation to save him but nothing could be done. I think someone might have said to his friends something like, ‘what are you looking at?’ but it was not real confrontation.”

Oliver, from Eltham, south-east London, was a client relationship manager for Duncan Lawrie, a private bank for the very rich, and had also worked for Barclays.

His shocked colleagues were coming to terms with his death last night. Doug Keightley, marketing manager at Duncan Lawrie, said he was a “very, very popular guy”.

Oliver, who played football for local team Lord Hood FC of Eltham, leaves three brothers, two step-brothers and a step-sister.

Police are hunting a group of four women. A post-mortem examination will be carried out in Greenwich today.

Detective Chief Inspector Lee Watling, of the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: “We are retaining an open mind at this stage of the investigation with regards to a motive and our primary aim is to establish how Mr Dearlove came to receive the injuries which led to his death.

“We are appealing for anyone who witnessed the incident, in particular a group of up to four white females to whom Mr Dearlove and his friends were speaking around the time the offence occurred.”