London Evening Standard/London
A male model and teaching assistant who campaigned against knife crime was stabbed to death after robbers used Gumtree to lure him into a trap to steal his laptop.
Michael Adegbite, who also worked as a fitness instructor and football coach, was attacked after he advertised his secondhand MacBook on the popular classifieds website for £200.
He and a friend went to meet someone they believed was a buyer in Enfield on Sunday evening — but were confronted by three youths.
Detectives believe the men lured the 28-year-old to the rendezvous with the intention of mugging him for the laptop.
Adegbite and his friend managed to snatch the laptop back and the suspects ran off.
Police say that a short time later, a second friend joined the victim and the three men set out to look for the group who had attempted to rob them. Minutes later there was a confrontation and a scuffle in the street and Adegbite was stabbed once in the chest. He died at the roadside 30 minutes later despite frantic attempts by neighbours and paramedics to save his life.
Yesterday his heartbroken family said they had been “destroyed” by his death. They said Adegbite had been a role model to young people during his time as a coach of youth football team Eastside United FC in Hackney and as a teaching assistant at Heathcote School, Chingford.
His brother, speaking on behalf of his family, said: “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.”
Adegbite worked at Leyton Leisure Centre and lived in Chingford with his mother, a nurse, his father and younger brother.
He was an accomplished footballer but pursued a career as a coach and fitness instructor after unsuccessful trials at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He graduated from the University of East London in 2010 and had recently been signed up by a number of modelling agencies.
His brother added: “Michael was a gentleman with a heart of gold. He was wonderful man, always smiling and joking, but he supported us all too, his family and his friends. Things will never be the same again. This has destroyed our family.” A family friend told the Standard: “It’s just heartless. Michael never made trouble, he was one of the most peaceful men you could meet.
“He was just selling the laptop for a few hundred pounds online. It’s something people do every day and he was killed for it.” Queens Park Rangers striker Jay Emmanuel-Thomas paid tribute to his friend online, saying: “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.”
