Mill Hill murder probe: Over £10k raised for family of shopkeeper killed 'after refusing to sell Rizlas to teens'

Donations have flooded in as well-wishers send their condolences
“Lovely man”: Vijay Patel with his wife Vibha
Francesca Gillett9 January 2018
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Thousands of pounds has been raised for the family of a shopkeeper who was killed with a single punch after refusing to serve a group of underage teenagers.

Vijay Patel, 49, spent nearly two days on a life support machine after being knocked to the ground in the late-night attack outside the shop on Mill Hill Broadway on Saturday. He died on Monday afternoon.

A local rabbi has created an online fundraising page for the family of married father-of-two Mr Patel.

Yitzchak Schochet, from Mill Hill Synagogue, said: “As the Mill Hill Jewish community it is appropriate that we demonstrate compassion for something so tragic that happened in our immediate neighbourhood.”

Donations have flooded in alongside messages of support and condolences, with more than £10,000 raised within eight hours.

Mr Patel in hospital before his life support was switched off

“Just senseless,” one person wrote, while another person said: “Sending love and strength to Vijay’s family. A tragedy.”

Someone else who donated said: “A kind and friendly man, who was such a constant part of life on The Broadway. Blessings and strength to his family.”

Detectives arrested a 16-year-old boy on Monday night following the murder, which happened at 11.45pm on Saturday.

Mr Patel, who lived in Kingsbury, had moved to London from India in 2006 to provide a better life for his wife Vibha and their two sons Neel and Dhruv, his family said today.

A 16-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of murder
PA

His brother Prakash, 47, told the Daily Mail: “He was the greatest man in the world. He always wanted to help and do the right thing.”

The attack took place at the Rota Express grocery store and mobile phone, where Mr Patel had worked for about two years.

Shocked residents in Mill Hill last night described him as a “lovely man” as they came to lay flowers and candles outside the closed shop.

The Met Police said officers believed Mr Patel was assaulted when he refused to sell cigarette papers to a group of youths.

DI Ian Lott said investigators believed the attack was “unprovoked spontaneous incident sparked entirely by refusal to let the suspects buy what they wanted".

"A man has lost his life for no reason other than trying to uphold the law," he said.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in