This is the heartbreaking moment a friend of a man stabbed to death yards from his home broke down as he paid tribute to "the nicest guy".
Aspiring business studies student Syed Jamanoor Islam died in his mother’s arms after he was set upon by a group of men in east London.
Crowds gathered to protest against knife crime in the capital and pay tribute to the 20-year-old who was killed in Mile End last Tuesday.
Speaking at the rally on Thursday, Imtiyaz Ahmed, 20, burst into tears as he described his good friend.
He said: “Every single one of us here will agree he was one of the nicest guys. Not a single person has ever spoken bad about him.
“If you knew him for five minutes it was as if you knew him for your whole life. His character was just so beautiful.
“He would be able to make everyone laugh, whatever the situation. If you were down you would give him a call and you would be just talking to him for minutes and hours – that’s just how he was.”
Dozens gathered to pay their respects and called for justice for Mr Islam’s family and for community members to stand up against violent crime.
Another friend, known as Jahid, added on the video filmed by Sylhet2London: “We’ll be the first to say we’re more than happy to work with whoever we need to work with to make a change.
“We need to educate our youth, we need to educate everyone about the dangers of a knife.
“We need to change our ways and educate ourselves because killing each other ain’t going to do nothing for you – there’s always someone who’s going to be hurt.
“It wasn’t only Jamanoor that was hurt that day, it hurt all of us. It’s the wider community.”
Tower Hamlets Borough Commander Sue Williams called for families to not be scared to check the bags of young family members for knives.
She said: “I was asked by the family about some of the challenges in dealing with knife crime, and really the number one challenge is the abundance of knives and how easy it is to get hold of them.
“It’s not about lock knifes, it’s about knives in your kitchen drawers. And this is about education from parents and families and friends to make sure that young people don’t take a knife when they leave the house.
“Don’t be afraid to check someone’s bag and see what they’re carrying. I check my young daughter’s.”
Speaking on Sunday, Syed Abdul Mukit, Mr Islam's father, told of how the community needs to stand up against violence if these crimes are to stop.
A man and two teenage boys have been charged with Mr Islam's murder.
All three, Nayeem Chowdhury, 18, of Burdett Road, Poplar, a 17-year-old boy from Bow and another boy, 15, from Seven Kings, were charged on Monday.
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