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THE atmosphere is sombre in the cosy home where 21-year-old Andrew Jaipaul grew up, just behind Finsbury Park station.

Only Cheyenne, the boisterous family dog, has the energy to totter between rooms that have been filled with grieving relatives since Andrew was killed last Sunday.

His heartbroken father Bob and mother Joanna sit quietly downstairs in the living room in front of a picture of their son that is now surrounded by candles. 

Andrew’s half-sister Rachel, 38, a lecturer at the College of North-East London, remembers a “caring and kind uncle” to her five-month-old son Jacob. She describes a young man who had a few scrapes with the law, but who was determined to put that behind him and make something of himself. 

“He would have made a brilliant father,” she said. “He would always tickle Jacob’s feet because they’re very small. He was always making silly little baby voices with him. Whenever I was getting Jacob’s bottle feeds prepared, he would always be holding him while I was doing that and helping me carry all Jacob’s stuff.

“With our other nephew Shane, who’s five, Andrew was the only one Shane listened to. He kept a firm eye on him if he did anything wrong, but at the same time he was so loving and so patient with him.”

Rachel recalls how Andrew had considered a career as a nurse, in public relations or joining the Marines before being talked out of it by family members who worried he might be injured while serving. 

When he was murdered he had a job interview lined up for the following week, and a (romantic) date for the next weekend. 

“He had planned to take the girl to the pictures and then to Nando’s,” she said. “I joked to him and said: ‘What? So you’re taking her on a date to go and eat chicken and chips with you?’ and he said: ‘No way, Nando’s is more upmarket than that.’

“He spent about eight months in jail last year, because he was caught driving without a licence for the second time and caused an accident. He was at Feltham and then Rochester, and we – big sisters, mums and aunts – were giving him some earache about that. When he came out he did feel really bad because he felt like he’d let the whole family down. He actually said that to me. 

“He reflected a lot while he was in there, and even did a lot of courses to sharpen his skills for when he came out. He was really driven to better himself by that time, and he was trying to show everyone he could do the best for himself.”

Bob, 76, suffers from the neuromuscular disease myasthenia, and is unable to move very far. 

“He was here to take care of me during the day while his mum was at work,” he said. 

“I don’t know... who’s going to do that for me now? To go to the bank I need to walk all the way into Finsbury Park and I can’t. So Andrew used to do all that for us. He’d go to the bank, sort out everything to do with the money, pay all the bills, everything, he would do it. You see we trusted him, he was our good boy. 

“All I know is that now I miss my son. I want him to come back, already, and it has only been a few days.”

Bob recalled how he had stepped out onto the street with Andrew only 30 minutes before he was brutally murdered by a gang of up to 25.

“I thought he was going to come back at 10.30pm, but he didn’t come back,” he said. “When he first left home, now I know for the last time, I started to walk across the street with him, and then something in me made me turn back towards the house. He went off, walking down the street, and I turned back to the house. I don’t know why. Maybe it was because I wanted to watch my grandkids play, but I didn’t go with him. I wish I had. But there was nothing I could have done anyway.

“Sometimes I’m scared now to go out onto the street, because who knows if those boys are still there? What if they come and attack me now? I am weak, I won’t be able to fight them off. I am scared, I hope they are taken off the streets as quickly as possible, so no one else feels this pain.”

Andrew had spent his last day at his regular church, St Mark’s, only minutes from where he was stabbed, at a friend’s confirmation for a new-born baby. He had then returned home to spend the afternoon with his brothers, 25-year-old Charles and 16-year-old Eddie.

His mother Joanna, 52, a nurse at Chase Farm hospital in Enfield, said: “He had dealings with the police but they were minor. He would never actually hurt anyone. He didn’t have it in him to stab or beat someone. He did silly things he shouldn’t have but he had a real conscience.”

She remembers a little boy who “played with everybody”, was “gentle” and loved creative subjects in school – especially art and music. More recently, he would buy her pink roses and carnations – “for no reason, just because he felt like doing it for me” – and make curried goat and roti for the family.

One of the last memories Rachel and Joanna share of Andrew was of a week before his death, at a ball for a sickle cell disease charity.

“There was this West Indian old lady,” said Rachel with a laugh. “She kept saying to him: ‘Oh come on, somebody dance with me’ and no one would. 

“He immediately got up and helped her by being her partner. It was the sort of dancing where you had to dance quite closely with each other – and she was really getting into it. I remember Andrew looked slightly stiff but he just kept dancing with her regardless.”

Joanna knew why. “You see, he could see he was making her happy, and that’s the sort of very sweet, extremely gentle guy he was.”

Vigil – MP joins tributes to Andrew

HUNDREDS of people paid their last respects to Andrew Jaipaul on Sunday at a candlelit prayer vigil attended by family and friends of the 21-year-old, and MP Jeremy Corbyn.

Describing the vigil at the Andover estate, scene of Andrew’s killing, his half-sister Rachel Kirby said: “It was so beautiful to see the number of people who were out there. So many people gave speeches and we even had a Christian rapper.” 

There were prayers from the vicar of St Mark’s Church, the Reverend Stu Wright, music and appeals from the family to co-operate with the police. Mr Corbyn praised the message of hope and peace that came from the family and added: “Andover is a strong community – I wish all our media would understand that.”

See Related:
• KNIFE GANG NEEDS A HUG
• Naruddin Ahmed – ‘I felt stinging and thought: Oh this is crazy. I’ve been stabbed’

Published: 8th July, 2011
by PAVAN AMARA