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Published: 1st July, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA

A SHOCKING attack in which a gang of up to 25 youths took part in a brutal stabbing is the latest knife killing on Islington’s streets.

Andrew Jaipaul was chased in an estate on Sunday and then repeatedly stabbed.

A meeting about the murder last night (Thursday) heard that he was unable to escape because of  high fences surrounding the Andover estate in Holloway. Andrew’s distraught mother sat in the front row.

Shocked witnesses called an ambulance but Mr Jaipaul died at the scene.

This week friends and neighbours paid tribute to the 21-year-old, describing him as a kind, quiet man who “dreamed of escaping the estate”.

Police have so far refused to be drawn on what may have been the motive. Mr Jaipaul was due to appear at Highbury Magistrates’ Court this week, on charges connected with an assault earlier this year and drug possession. His solicitor said: “No one deserves what happened to him. He was a nice lad.”

A nearby shopkeeper added: “It’s a real shock, because he really wasn’t a troublemaker. I have seen lots of boys who are troublemakers and he just wasn’t one of them.”

Brutal end to a young man’s dream of getting out and starting a family

Murder victim was due in court to face charges, but on the estate where he died he is remembered as a respectful boy, someone who knew right from wrong

ONCE again a mother is mourn­ing a son brutally stabbed to death on the streets of Islington; once again detectives are hunting a pack of teenagers and young men seen carrying out the vicious assault.  

A series of knifings in the borough over the past two weeks culminated on Sunday with the murder of Andrew Jaipaul, 21, who was stabbed multiple times by a group of between 12 and 25 young men.

Witnesses said they chased him as he walked through the Andover estate in Holloway. An ambulance team was unable to save his life, and he died at the scene.

A mixed picture of Andrew emerged this week. Friends described him as a quiet, polite, young man who dreamed of escaping an inner-city life that seems to condemn some young people to limited opportunities and frustration. 

Investigations by the Tribune revealed  that he was due to appear at Highbury Magistrates’ Court on two separate occasions this week – once on Tuesday to face a charge of assault against three men at Old Street Roundabout in January earlier this year and again today (Friday) to answer charges of possessing crack cocaine.

Police would not be drawn on a possible motive for Sunday’s brutal attack and it should be emphasised that no crime had been proven against him.

The lawyer representing him at Henscott solicitors in Walthamstow said: “We are not going to disclose any information in relation to [the charges]. All I can say is that what has happened to him is tragic. No one deserves what happened to him. I think that justice should be accordingly served to whoever has done this to him. He was a nice lad.”

A shopkeeper on the Andover estate who saw Andrew on a daily basis had nothing but praise for the young victim.

“I saw him carrying old people’s shopping back for them a lot of the time,” he said. “A lot of kids get into trouble in their early 20s. Many of the kids here have, and then they change. On a daily basis, with most people, he was a very respectful boy. 

“I saw him yesterday and today he’s not here. He used to come in here and buy Dragon Stout beer and Hula Hoops, and then take them home to eat. Dragon Stout was his special beer. 

“Today, his friends came in and bought lots of them. They’ve left full bottles of it around the estate, on the benches, on the floor, as a tribute to him. 

“It’s a real shock, because he really wasn’t a troublemaker. I have seen lots of boys who are troublemakers and he just wasn’t one of them. He used to come in here, talk about life and then go home, or maybe sit on the benches [outside the shop] and talk to some of his friends. All our boys grew up together, so they were all friends.

“I remember once, about two years ago, we had an argument with another boy who he knew. The boy was refusing to pay for something and shouting at us a bit, and Andrew just came up and said: ‘Look, if you bought it you have to pay for it. That’s the reason why this man’s saying this to you. You shouldn’t shout at him.’ That’s what he was like. He knew right and wrong.”

Throughout the week friends and passers-by have been leaving floral tributes to the part-time painter and decorator, who lived with his family in Birnam Road.

A childhood friend described Andrew’s last moments. “About two minutes before he was stabbed I pedalled past him on my bike,” he said. “He was walking. He laughed at me and called something in Turkish, a word I’d taught him, because he was Caribbean and we used to teach each other different words. He screamed it at me and was laughing. 

“It’s weird that I could have been the last person he spoke to, and that might have been the last time he laughed. 

“Then I heard him scream. I ran over and I couldn’t bear to look at him. The guys that did this, they weren’t from this estate.”

Friends on the estate remember Andrew as being devoted to his girlfriend, “really good” at playing the game Call Of Duty.

“We’d talk about the future,” said another friend, aged 20. 

“He wanted to go back to college to do his A-levels. He had the same dream as all of us. He was always talking about how he wanted to get out of here, to have some money, to have a life and goals. He wanted to have a family, that was his major dream. He was always busy with his girlfriend.

“Around last year he was in jail for a bit, and when he came out he was a totally changed boy. He changed his mind on everything. He started staying at home most of the time. He just wanted to make enough money, get out and have a nice family, that’s all.”

Witnesses who found Andrew after the attack said the white t-shirt he was wearing had been turned red with blood, and a knife and brick were left at the scene. 

Police confirmed they had recovered a weapon and bits of brick, but it was unclear whether the brick was relevant as all the victim’s injuries were stab wounds.

A post-mortem examination was carried out on Monday at St Pancras Mortuary and gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds. 

Police are keeping an open mind regarding the motive. Detective Inspector Andy Yeats, who is in charge of the case, said: “We are in the early stages of the investigation so are very open. Some potential motives are stronger than others.”

This week, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that knife crime in London has increased by more than 8 per cent over a three-month period. 

Andrew attended St Aloysius’ College in Hornsey Lane, Archway – the same school as fellow murder victims Nas Osawe and Martin Dinnegan. 

Nas, 16, was stabbed to death in Upper Street in 2007 after a fight broke out over a “dirty look” on the no 73 bus. 

Martin, 14, was murdered a few streets from Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium in 2008. He was knifed in the back four times and left to die in his brother’s arms. 

This week, young people on the Andover estate criticised what they saw as futile attempts to cut crime. 

A 19-year-old, who had played football with Andrew, said: “A while ago the police told us they had fitted about 50 or 60 cameras all over this estate, because boys who don’t even live here always come here and cause trouble. 

“They told us that if the smallest thing happened they would be straight here. They said there was someone who was watching all these cameras, and that if anything happened they’d be here straight away, in minutes. So how is it that this boy was stabbed viciously in front of all these cameras, and it still took the police so long to get here?”

A number of witnesses estimated it took police more than half an hour to arrive at the scene.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said they had received a call at 10.23pm, and officers had arrived at 10.32pm and immediately attempted to resuscitate the victim.

In 2007, former Tory shadow home secretary Ann Widdecombe was criticised by residents for describing the Andover estate as a “dump”. The 63-year-old former MP lived on the estate for three days while filming the ITV documentary, Widdecome versus The Hoodies. 

This week, Town Hall Labour leader Councillor Catherine West described Andrew’s death as “heartbreaking”. “It’s a terrible reminder of the tragic murder of Martin Dinnegan four years ago,” she said. “We have to redouble our efforts to stop this senseless slaughter on our streets. 

“Ben Kinsella, Nas Osawe and Martin Dinnegan – all these young men have died on the streets just at the moment when they were going to do great things in their lives. Essentially,  this is due to a lack of future prospects.”  

Andrea O’Halleran, who lives on the Andover estate and knew Andrew, said: “Other newspapers have made out this is gang warfare. Andrew was on his own. He was walking home. That’s not gang warfare, that’s a boy coming home through the estate and a gang attacks him.”

See Also:
• ‘There has to be a safe place on Andover Estate to run away to’
• Marchers commemorating Martin Dinnegan stage a walk for peace in week of three stabbings