Shopkeeper is killed by yobs over a packet of cigarette papers
A SHOPKEEPER was killed after three youths were told they were too young to buy cigarette papers.
Father-of-two Vijay Patel, 49, was hit in the chest as he tried to stop his workplace being smashed up after a colleague refused to sell them Rizlas.
The blow sent him crashing to the ground where he suffered a fatal head wound.
His family last night told how he moved to London from India in 2006 to create a better life for his wife Vibha and their two sons. His brother, Prakash, 47, said: ‘He was the greatest man in the world. He died trying to protect the shop.
‘He worked all hours to fund [his sons’ education costs] and worked very hard to support the family.’
Residents of well-heeled Mill Hill, in north west London, spoke of their shock that such an attack could take place in a largely ‘tight-knit, quiet middle class’ community.
Rizla papers, used for handrolling cigarettes, are also used to roll joints of cannabis. Like cigarettes, they cannot be sold to anyone aged under 18. Mr Patel was hit outside the grocers and mobile phone store where he worked on Saturday at around 11.45pm.
Images shared by his family in the hope they will help catch his killers show him on life support at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.
He was pronounced dead the next day just before 6pm. His family have given permission for his organs to be donated to help save or improve the lives of others.
He had been working at the Rota Express store for around two years but had worked at other shops before that.
His brother, Prakash, said: ‘ We can’t believe what’s happened. He always wanted to help and do the right thing. He would save money and send it back to India to fund his children’s education and our parents.’ He added: ‘ He fell down backwards so the brain was hurt very badly. It was internal bleeding and they said they couldn’t operate.’
His niece, Srutiben Patel, 19, who is studying biomedical science at the University of Roehampton, said: ‘He was an inspiration for us, in how he behaved with everyone.’
Mr Patel, who lived in Kingsbury, north west London, has two children, 17-year-old son Dhruv in India and another older son, Neel, studying a computer engineering Masters degree in Australia.
At the time, his wife was visiting relatives near the family home in Vadodara, Gujurat, west India.
Passers-by rushed to Mr Patel’s aid after the three teenagers turned violent, helping to put him in the position before he was taken to hospital. The suspects, described as three black males, ran off and the Metropolitan Police last night said it was yet to make arrests. A colleague working behind the counter on the night told how the three had become violent after asking for Rizlas. The shop worker, who did not want to be named, but who was also injured, said: ‘There were three of these guys but none of them had an ID.
‘One of them got a bank card out and I said ‘this is not a form of ID’, but they continued threatening and abusing us so I asked them gently to leave because I can’t risk my licence over that.
‘They left the shop but they threatened me again afterwards saying “we are going to smash the shop window”. In that instant Vijay went outside by the door and after a few seconds I went out as well and at that moment Vijay was hit in the chest with a lot of force. He was knocked down and the guys started to
hit me as well... I tried to get them away
with a board and managed to
scare them off.’ Local residents and business owners spoke of their shock, telling of a ‘tight-knit community’. One woman said: ‘ This is mostly a quiet, Jewish community with very little crime.’ But she added: ‘ More and more recently I have seen a group of youths hanging around in an alleyway nearby and you can often see them smoking and rolling joints.’ Jagmeet Singh Sethi, 27, who owns a Lebara mobile phone kiosk in the shop where Mr Patel was attacked, said: ‘This area is mostly fine but there are lots of problems like this in the off-licences around here. It’s becoming a problem.’ Detective Inspector Ian Lott, from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Comrecovery mand, said: ‘What we know now is that two shopworkers have rightly refused to sell items to youths they believed to be under age. The three teenage suspects have then made threats before violently attacking both shopkeepers.’
‘World has been torn apart’ ‘Hit in chest with a lot of force’