Man who stabbed shopkeeper Ravi Katharkamar to death found guilty of murder

A MASKED man who stabbed a shopkeeper to death in north-west London in the middle of a "one-man crimewave" has been found guilty of murder, it was reported on Tuesday (8).

Alex Gunn, 31, killed 54-year-old Ravi Katharkamar at his Marsh Food and Wine store in Pinner in March this year. CCTV footage shows Gunn knifing the father-of-two and wrenching the cash till from his hands.

The Old Bailey heard that Gunn stole £100 and went on to burgle two homes.

Katharkamar was found by a jogger who called the emergency services. But he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Vignarani Aiyathirai, Katharkamar's widow, said it haunts her to think that her husband was killed over £100.

"I hate the fact he was alone, that I was not there to hold or comfort him, tend to his wounds or tell him I loved him and that all would be OK," she added in a statement read out in court.

"I constantly wonder if the man who did this will ever realise or care that he has left such a huge trail of devastation within my family."

Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones QC described Gunn as a "one-man crimewave" and told jurors he was also responsible for a number of burglaries and thefts to fund his drug habit.

Detective chief inspector Simon Stancombe said the two men could not be more different.

"Ravi was a warm and loving father and husband. A man who worked long hours to support his young family and run his shop in the heart of the local community in Pinner," he said.

"Alex Gunn, on the other hand, is a career criminal who has spent much of his adult life preying on other people.

"Alex Gunn is an odious, vile and dangerous individual who I am pleased to say will now be in prison for a very long time."

Gunn will be sentenced on Friday.