These are the final moments of ‘murdered’ shopkeeper Vijay Patel shortly before he was killed after three youths were told they were too young to buy cigarette papers.
Father of two Mr Patel, 49, was hit in the chest as he tried to stop his shop from being smashed after a colleague refused to sell them Rizlas.
Exclusive footage obtained by MailOnline shows the popular shopkeeper seemingly without a care in the world as he chatted to a friend in the off licence opposite his shop in Mill Hill, north London.
Mr Patel, described by heartbroken friends as ‘the greatest man in the world’ is filmed talking to Manmohan Singh, 55, in the Broadway News Food and Wine shortly before he died where he worked at 11.45pm on Saturday.
Vijay Patel was pictured on CCTV just half an hour before he was killed, apparently in the row over his refusal to sell teenagers cigarette papers
He was seen chatting to another shopkeeper shortly before the attack which claimed his life
The CCTV footage shows Mr Patel helping the fellow shopkeeper put his sign away while he chats and casually scratches his head, completely unaware that he was about to suffer the fatal blows which have since ended his life.
Mr Singh’s son, Ajmeet, 26, who owns the off licence, told MailOnline: ‘I’m so shocked and scared. I’m so angry, I can’t believe what’s happened.
‘He came in to see my dad at 11pm to get some change. My dad left him £5 short without realising, as he doesn’t understand English money yet.
‘He was a really friendly guy so they had a little chat about nothing in particular. None of us can believe that this could be the last sighting of him alive.’
Mr Singh continued: ‘Like lots of locals I’ve had my window smashed before by a yob who ran away when I showed him my hammer, and there are always kids selling drugs on the streets here and homeless people in the square nearby.
‘But after this I keep a hockey stick behind the counter and I’m hiring staff to work with my dad at night so he’s not on his own. A panic button.
‘These kids around here are not taught to have any manners or respect.’
Scotland Yard confirmed the arrest of the teenager in the early hours of Tuesday.
Vijay Patel is pictured in hospital after he suffered a fatal head wound when he was struck to the ground by youths in north-west London
Mr Patel’s family last night told how he moved to London from India in 2006 to create a better life for his wife Vibha and their two sons. His brother, Prakash, 47, said: ‘He was the greatest man in the world. He died trying to protect the shop.
‘He worked all hours to fund [his sons’ education costs] and worked very hard to support the family.’
Residents of well-heeled Mill Hill, in north west London, spoke of their shock that such an attack could take place in a largely ‘tight-knit, quiet middle class’ community.
Rizla papers, used for hand-rolling cigarettes, are also used to roll joints of cannabis. Like cigarettes, they cannot be sold to anyone aged under 18.
Mr Patel was hit outside the grocers and mobile phone store where he worked on Saturday at around 11.45pm.
‘At this stage we believe this to be an unprovoked spontaneous incident sparked entirely by refusal to let the suspects buy what they wanted,’ said Ian Lott, a detective inspector from the Metropolitan Police’s homicide and major crime command.
‘A man has lost his life for no reason other than trying to uphold the law.’
Father-of-two Vijay Patel was described as an ‘inspiration’. He is pictured with his wife, Vibha, who was in west India when her husband’s life support was switched off
Images shared by his family in the hope they will help catch his killers show him on life support at St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington.
He was pronounced dead the next day just before 6pm. His family have given permission for his organs to be donated to help save or improve the lives of others.
He had been working at the Rota Express store for around two years but had worked at other shops before that.
His brother, Prakash, said: ‘We can’t believe what’s happened. He always wanted to help and do the right thing. He would save money and send it back to India to fund his children’s education and our parents.’
He added: ‘He fell down backwards so the brain was hurt very badly. It was internal bleeding and they said they couldn’t operate.’
His niece, Srutiben Patel, 19, who is studying biomedical science at the University of Roehampton, said: ‘He was an inspiration for us, in how he behaved with everyone.’
Mr Patel, who lived in Kingsbury, north west London, has two children, 17-year-old son Dhruv in India and another older son, Neel, studying a computer engineering Masters degree in Australia.
Mr Patel’s family said he worked hard at all hours of the day to provide for his wife and children
At the time, his wife was visiting relatives near the family home in Vadodara, Gujurat, west India.
Passers-by rushed to Mr Patel’s aid after the attack helping to put him in the recovery position before he was taken to hospital.
The shop worker, who did not want to be named, but who was also injured, said: ‘There were three of these guys but none of them had an ID.
‘One of them got a bank card out and I said ‘this is not a form of ID’, but they continued threatening and abusing us so I asked them gently to leave because I can’t risk my licence over that.
‘They left the shop but they threatened me again afterwards saying ‘we are going to smash the shop window’.
In that instant Vijay went outside by the door and after a few seconds I went out as well and at that moment Vijay was hit in the chest with a lot of force.
‘He was knocked down and the guys started to hit me as well… I tried to get them away with a board and managed to scare them off.’
Local residents and business owners spoke of their shock, telling of a ‘tight-knit community’.
One woman said: ‘This is mostly a quiet, Jewish community with very little crime.’ But she added: ‘More and more recently I have seen a group of youths hanging around in an alleyway nearby and you can often see them smoking and rolling joints.’
Police are pictured at the scene in Mill Hill, where Mr Patel was attacked for refusing to serve youths Rizla rolling papers
Jagmeet Singh Sethi, 27, who owns a Lebara mobile phone kiosk in the shop where Mr Patel was attacked, said: ‘This area is mostly fine but there are lots of problems like this in the off-licences around here. It’s becoming a problem.’
Detectives appealed for help identifying the suspects and for anyone who may have mobile phone footage or images of the incident to contact them.
They have also been conducting door-to-door enquiries and gathering CCTV from the scene.
The suspects were described as three black males, with one wearing a red sweatshirt, black jeans and white trainers, another wearing a dark-grey or black tracksuit and black trainers and the third a dark-coloured hooded sweatshirt and black jeans.
The group were seen running off along The Broadway, in the direction of Mill Hill Broadway Station, after the attack, police said.
‘If you know who they are, or where they are, please get in touch and tell us their names,’ Mr Lott said.
‘If you saw the three running away from The Broadway and where they went let us know.
‘I would like to thank the witnesses who have already come forward and told us what they saw.
‘However, I would still urge anyone who is yet to speak with us, or who has captured some of the incident on camera, to come forward to help us.
‘If you saw something that may help but haven’t yet spoken to police then please get in contact with us.’
Anyone with any information about the identity of the three suspects or their current whereabouts should contact 020 8358 0200, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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