Stabbed to death as children queued up for ice creams
68th London killing was in area favoured by celebrities
A FATHER was stabbed to death in broad daylight just yards from terrified children who were queuing outside an ice cream parlour.
Marcel Campbell, 30, was ambushed by a masked man who jumped from a van brandishing a 12in kitchen knife.
The murder in upmarket Islington, north London, is the 68th in the capital this year – and the fourth killing in just five days.
The attacker struck less than half a mile from the £3.9million mansion of Pride And Prejudice actress Keira Knightley and the homes of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, comedian Paul Whitehouse and Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell.
CCTV captured the horrifying moment at 6.30pm on Monday when the killer, wearing a black hoodie, stabbed Mr Campbell repeatedly in front of panicked onlookers before sprinting off.
Police and paramedics tried to save Mr Campbell’s life, but he died at the scene from multiple stab wounds.
Yesterday, witnesses told of the attack outside the Udderlicious ice cream shop. one said: ‘The chap stabbed this man in the chest with a big kitchen knife. It must have been 12in long.
‘The wounds were in his chest. They were obviously really bad.
This all happened outside Udderlicious, where there were kids hanging out after school. It’s just horrific.
‘The guy who stabbed the victim left the murder weapon there – I saw it right on the ground next to the guy. Then he picked it up again and ran off.’ A shop worker said: ‘This kind of stuff just can’t keep happening – it’s terrible.’
A pizza delivery driver said colleagues had seen a bloodied man run past leaving a trail of blood on the pavement, while staff at a beauty parlour also said the attacker briefly entered the salon covered in blood.
Scotland Yard imposed a Section 60 stop-and-search order around Islington yesterday to prevent tit-
‘Losing too many of our young people’
for-tat attacks in what is suspected to be a gang-linked murder.
But friends of the dead father-oftwo denied this.
one said: ‘He wasn’t in a gang. I have known him all his life. His kids were... his everything.’
However, pictures on social media appear to show Mr Campbell making gun gestures, smoking drugs and showing off bundles of money.
In 2011, he posted a tribute on Facebook to gangster Mark Duggan – whose shooting by Scotland Yard officers in Tottenham, north London, led to riots across Britain – posting a photograph of 29-yearold Duggan with the words: ‘rIP my brudda.’
Mr Campbell’s devastated aunt, Lynette, said yesterday that the ‘wonderful father’ was devoted to his seven-year- old daughter and his elder son.
She told the London Evening Standard newspaper: ‘He lived for his kids. He was a good boy, we are losing too many of our young people. His mother is devastated.’
His mother, who comes from Jamaica, was too upset to speak at the family home in Tottenham. A single bouquet of white roses was left at the scene yesterday with the message: ‘rIP Cel. Such a lovely guy.’
Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams said: ‘This was a brutal attack carried out on a busy street in broad daylight.
‘I am asking anyone who saw the assault or has any information to contact detectives.
‘In particular, we would like to hear from anyone who was driving in the area around this time and has dash-cam footage.’