The family of a food delivery driver stabbed to death in London’s first killing of 2020 revealed today that he had risked his life to come to the UK in search of a better life.
Algerian Takieddine Boudhane, 30, who worked for Deliveroo and UberEats, was knifed while on shift in Lennox Road near Finsbury Park station on Friday in an apparent road rage attack.
Police were on Monday searching for the owner of a white VW Caddy found abandoned in Islington yesterday morning.
Mr Boudhane’s brother Islam, 29, who arrived at the scene moments after the stabbing, said he had lost a “lion” who had been working three jobs to try to save up to build his own house and start a family.
He told the Standard: “We came to this country because we thought it was safe. Look at how it has become.”
He said his brother, known as Taki, had first come to London as a teenager after a dangerous journey from Algeria that included crossing the Mediterranean in a small boat. Most recently, he had been in the UK for three years.
“He came all the way from Africa for a better life,” he said. “He crossed many countries and risked his life to get here. He survived all that, and then he comes here and when he is working someone comes and sticks a knife in his heart. He was killed while he was at work. It could happen to anyone.
“The Prime Minister, the Mayor of London, they need to speak out. How many more families are going to be broken because of knife crime?”
Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted: “Such violence has no place in our city. Motorcycle delivery drivers must be given the support they need to do their work.”
A friend of Mr Boudhane who witnessed the attack said: “The man in the van pulled up next to him and started shouting at him and told him he was too close to his van.
"Taki started to shout back, and they both stopped their vehicles. As soon as the man got out of his van he pulled out a knife from his glovebox and stabbed him straight in the heart before driving away.”
Anyone with information was asked to contact police on 101, quoting CAD5934/3Jan, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
