‘You got him good’
Court told of boys’ chilling boast after teenager ‘killed shop worker in row over cigarette papers’
A BOY of 16 ran off laughing after fatally assaulting a shop assistant at a store that refused to sell him cigarette papers, a court heard yesterday.
The teenager is said to have flown into a rage when he and two friends were told they were too young to buy Rizla papers from the corner shop.
The Old Bailey heard he threatened to break the windows of the store in North London before punching shop assistant Vijay Kumar Patel, 49, in the face.
The father of two, standing with his hands in his pockets, fell backwards and hit his head on the pavement. He suffered catastrophic brain injuries and died in hospital the next day.
The alleged killer and his two friends fled the scene laughing and joking, and one of the boys was heard to say: ‘You got him good’, said Louis Mably, prosecuting.
CCTV cameras captured the moment of the attack just outside the front door of the corner shop in Mill Hill at 11.45pm on January 6.
When the three boys entered the shop and tried to buy Rizla papers, the shopkeeper refused them when they were unable to provide ID.
Rizla papers are used to handroll cigarettes and cannabis ‘joints’, and cannot be sold to anyone aged under 18.
Mr Mably said: ‘The shorter boy [the suspect] became aggressive and called him a motherf***er. On the way out of the shop the shorter one said he was going to smash the shop window.’
The court heard the frightened shopkeeper asked his assistant Mr Patel to go out and see what the boys were doing.
The 16-year-old, who cannot be named because of his age, allegedly shouted: ‘Why did you come out motherf***er? Do you want a fight?’ Mr Mably said: ‘This boy suddenly lunged at Mr Patel, flew towards him and smashed him in the upper part of his body with his right forearm.
‘Mr Patel was standing on the pavement with his hands in his pockets and this came as a complete surprise.
‘When the boy smashed into the lower part of his face it caused Mr Patel, with his hands in his pockets, to fall backwards on to the pavement and smash his head.
‘It was that moment – that blow causing him to smash his head – that caused his death.’
The boys were ‘laughing, joking and happy about what had taken place’ as they fled, chased by the shopkeeper wielding a billboard sign and a broom, jurors heard. Police and paramedics arrived to find Mr Patel, from Barnet, North London, injured on the pavement. The day after his death, police arrested the 16-year-old boy.
In his bedroom, officers found the black jacket he was wearing at the time of the alleged attack. Traces of the victim’s saliva were found on the sleeve.
The boy, from north-west London, denies manslaughter. He was said yesterday to have autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. He was given a stress toy to play with in the dock.
Mr Patel moved to London from India in 2006 to create a better life for wife Vibha and their two sons.
After his death his brother Prakash, 47, said: ‘He was the greatest man in the world. He died trying to protect the shop. He always wanted to do the right thing.’
His niece Srutiben Patel, 19, a biomedical student, said: ‘He was an inspiration for us in how he behaved.’ The trial continues.