28 year old Michael Adegbite, a model, fitness instructor and teaching assistant who campaigned against knife crime was stabbed to death after robbers pretended to be interested in buying the second hand MacBook laptop he advertised on a classified website- Gumtree for 200 pounds.
According to Dailymail.co.uk, Adegbite mentored troubled children and campaigned against knife crime has been stabbed to death while selling a laptop to a man he met on Gumtree, according to police. Michael Adegbite, 28, was killed after three teenagers tried to rob him during a meet-up he had arranged in order to hand over the computer.
Relatives paid tribute to the part-time fitness instructor and model after his ‘senseless’ death in Enfield, north London on Sunday evening.
His brother said in a statement: ‘He wanted to help young people from troubled backgrounds, show them the right path.
‘He talked to them about the dangers of knife crime and in the end he was the victim of it. It’s just senseless. He was killed over a laptop. No life is worth that little.’
A family friend added: ‘He was a good boy and we all feel that people need to know that.
‘We don’t want people to think that he was part of this and we don’t want his death to be in vain. The family are devastated, we all are.’
Mr Adegbite studied sports science at the University of East London, and was a promising footballer who once tried out for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
His neighbour Lucy Yapp suggested that his life could have been saved if passers-by had stopped and intervened in the fight.
‘People saw four black men fighting and just walked past,’ she said. ‘They didn’t conceive that he might be being attacked.
‘The family are devastated. If they called 999 sooner it could have given them an extra five minutes to save his life rather than walk past. No-one called until they saw him on the floor.
‘I am devastated. He was a good boy. He even ran a football club for ex-offenders. That’s the sad thing about it, he was trying to help the kind of people that stabbed him.’
Friends including professional footballers and pop stars spoke of their grief in the aftermath of Mr Adegbite’s death.
Mobo-winning rapper Jahmaal Fyffe, known by his stage names Chipmunk or Chip, tweeted: ‘Another good brother just stabbed and dead. Praying for change. Condolences to your family.’
Queens Park Rangers striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas said: ‘The way life works ain’t fair, but you’re in a better place so guide us and protect us to happiness and success.
‘When will the youth of today change, taking people’s lives is not cool.’
Residents of the area where Mr Adegbite was killed described how his car was covered in blood by the time it was taken away by police.
Detective Superintendent Simon Warwick of Metropolitan Police said: ‘The incident that occurred on Sunday which resulted in the murder of a young man has left his family and loved ones devastated.
‘Detectives believe the circumstances surrounding the death arose from an attempted robbery which is being fully investigated by the Homicide and Major Crime Command. We are confident that the incident is not gang-related.‘
Officers are appealing for witnesses to the killing, but are not looking for any more suspects.
