A North London community has raised almost £28,000 for the family of shop worker Vijay Patel, who died after being knocked to the ground when he refused to sell cigarette papers to underage customers. 

At the time RN went to press, £28,878 had been raised for Mr Patel’s family via a crowd-funding page set up by the Mill Hill Synagogue.

Newsagent Kamal Thaker, who runs Stop Shop News in nearby Edgware, said: “It’s a shocking event but the community has rallied round. Many of my customers are talking about how vulnerable shopkeepers are and we need to keep that momentum up.”

One teenager, who cannot be named, has now been charged with the murder of the 49-year-old who worked at Rota Express in Mill Hill.  

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