This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A 16-year-old boy has been found guilty of killing a shopkeeper who refused to sell him Rizla papers.



Vijaykumar Patel, 49, sustained a “catastrophic” head injury in an attack outside the minimarket where he worked in Mill Hill, north London, on 6 January.

The teenager, from Brent, had entered the shop with two friends and tried to buy cigarette papers, but they were sent away for being under 18, the trial heard.

Outside, the teenager became aggressive and shouted abuse before lunging at Patel. The attack was captured on CCTV.

“This boy suddenly lunged at Mr Patel, flew towards him and smashed him in the upper part of his body with his right forearm,” said the prosecutor, Louis Mably QC. “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.”

Another shop worker chased the boys away with a billboard sign and a broom. The boys were seen “laughing, joking and happy about what had taken place” as they fled the scene, Mably told the jury.

Police found Patel unconscious and bleeding in the street. He was rushed to St Mary’s hospital in central London and died the next day from an injury to the back of his head.

The defendant, who cannot be named, denied manslaughter, saying he acted in self-defence. He was found guilty after a week-long Old Bailey trial. Sentencing was adjourned to 7 September.

DCI Luke Marks, from Scotland Yard, said: “It beggars belief that a family man with two kids has lost his life over an argument about cigarette papers that got out of hand.

“This was an unprovoked, spontaneous incident sparked entirely by the 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.”