Passenger on London bus stabbed to death

BRITAIN: British police issued an appeal for help yesterday after a 28-year-old man was stabbed to death on a London bus for…

BRITAIN: British police issued an appeal for help yesterday after a 28-year-old man was stabbed to death on a London bus for challenging another passenger who was throwing food around.

Police said Richard Whelan was stabbed repeatedly in front of other passengers, including his girlfriend, on the number 43 bus in north London after a night out.

British media said Mr Whelan had objected to the man after he threw chips at his girlfriend.

Mr Whelan was a friend of Irish citizen Ciaran Cassidy (22), who was killed in the July 7th London bombings.

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Mr Cassidy's mother Veronica (53) said Mr Whelan had been a huge support to her family in the wake of the atrocity.

"They were good friends and Richard was a fairly quiet lad, not the sort to get into any trouble," she said.

"He was here right from the moment Ciaran was missing and tried all he could for us, until the inevitable happened and he was confirmed as dead."

Det Chief Insp John Macdonald said: "This was a totally unprovoked attack by someone who obviously carries a knife as a matter of course. Anybody could have been the victim of this crime. The victim had done nothing wrong at all.

"It is the casual way in which the suspect acted and the level of violence used against someone who was enjoying a night out with his girlfriend that makes it all the more important that we identify and arrest this man," he added.

Police described the man they were looking for as black, in his 20s, just under 183cm (6ft) tall with afro-style hair.

Police said they were examining footage from a security camera on the bus. They have already spoken to several witnesses. - (Reuters, PA)