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Pair who killed talented athlete as he was on his way to watch Arsenal jailed

Andy Wells
·Freelance Writer
·3-min read
Jonathan Camille (left) was convicted of manslaughter and Alex Lanning (right) was convicted of murder. (PA)
Jonathan Camille, left, was convicted of manslaughter and Alex Lanning, right, was convicted of murder. (PA)

A man convicted of killing a talented athlete while he made his way to an Arsenal match has been jailed for life.

Alex Lanning will serve at least 25 years for murdering Tashan Daniel, while accomplice Jonathan Camille has been jailed for six-and-a-half years after being convicted of manslaughter.

Daniel, 20, had kissed his father goodbye before setting off to see Arsenal take on Nottingham Forest at the Emirates Stadium on 24 September last year.

Within an hour, his father witnessed efforts to save his son, after he was stabbed in the chest at Hillingdon Station, west London.

At the time of the killing, knifeman Lanning had been on licence for a previous stabbing in Brighton.

Tashan Daniel was stabbed in the chest at Hillingdon Station, west London. (PA)
Tashan Daniel was stabbed in the chest at Hillingdon Station, west London. (PA)
Jonathan Camille and Alex Lanning on the day of the murder of Tashan Daniel. (PA)
Jonathan Camille and Alex Lanning on the day of the murder of Tashan Daniel. (PA)

The 22-year-old had admitted Daniel's manslaughter but denied intending to seriously harm him, claiming it was an accident.

Following a trial at the Old Bailey, Lanning, from Hillingdon, was convicted of murder.

His friend Camille, 19, from Fulham, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.

After the guilty verdicts were reached on 6 August, the victim’s father, Chandy Daniel, 59, said his son was a "fantastic human being" with "so much potential and so much to give”.

He said: "It is in no doubt, nor has it ever been, that this was a senseless, needless, horrific and ultimately unnecessary act of violence. One that our family shall be paying for for the rest of our lives.”

Describing the last moments of his son's life, he said: "As parents, we had to watch in disbelief as the paramedics worked on our son's lifeless body on that platform at Hillingdon – a platform which we will never feel able to use again.’

Jonathan Camille and Alex Lanning are pictured after Tashan Daniel was murdered. (PA)
Jonathan Camille and Alex Lanning are pictured after Tashan Daniel was murdered. (PA)
The father of Tashan Daniel, Chandy Daniel, alongside mother Cecia Daniel (right) and sister Oceanna Daniel (centre), speaks to the media outside the Old Bailey, London, after Alex Lanning was found guilty of murdering talented athlete Tashan Daniel, who died after he was stabbed on his way to a football match at the Emirates stadium in west London on September 24, 2019. Co-defendant Jonathan Camille was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter.
The father of Tashan Daniel, Chandy Daniel, alongside mother Cecia Daniel (right) and sister Oceanna Daniel (centre). (PA)

"I held him, stroked his face, and kissed him, as he lay on that platform, only to be told by the paramedics that there was nothing more that they could do for him.

"My wife – his mother – collapsed at the news, unable to comprehend what was happening to our darling boy.”

He condemned the killers for their "complete lack of remorse or empathy" as they tried to avoid responsibility.

Previously, the court had heard how Daniel was "excited" at the prospect of seeing Arsenal play at the Emirates for the first time.

At about 3.30pm, he kissed his father goodbye and walked to Hillingdon station with his friend, Treyone Campbell, who was going to the football with him.

Hundreds of people pay their respects at a vigil outside Hillingdon station in London, held for Tashan Daniel, who was stabbed at the station whilst on his way to an Arsenal game on Tuesday.
Hundreds of people pay their respects at a vigil outside Hillingdon station in London, held for Tashan Daniel. (PA)

Prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC told jurors that Daniel did not know his attackers, who had been on the opposite platform going the other way.

Lanning had been "looking for trouble from almost the moment he walked onto the westbound platform", the prosecutor said.

The catalyst appeared to be that Lanning thought Daniel was "looking at him across the rail tracks", the court heard.

The defendants changed platforms to confront the pair, the court heard.

Chandima Daniel, father of Tashan Daniel, who was stabbed at Hillingdon station whilst on his way to an Arsenal game on Tuesday, holds a photograph of him at a vigil held outside the underground station in London.
Chandima Daniel, father of Tashan Daniel, holds a photograph of him at a vigil held outside the underground station in London. (PA)

The court heard Lanning had a previous conviction for wounding a man with a knife in Brighton dating back to July 2016, as well as having 250 wraps of heroin.

Lanning had been released half way through a four-year sentence in 2018 and was on licence for those offences at the time he killed Daniel.

Jurors heard Daniel was a talented athlete who trained up to four times a week at Hillingdon Athletic Club.

He worked as a photographer and was described as a popular young man who made friends easily and was devoted to his family.