Pinner community helps raise £50,000 in a week for family of murdered shopkeeper

The Jewish community of Pinner in Harrow has helped raise £49,986 in a week for the family of a local shopkeeper knifed to death during a robbery on Sunday.

An online fundraising bid launched on Monday for the family of Sri Lanka-born Ravi Katharkamar, 54, fired support and sympathy across north-west London, with the Jewish community supporting an appeal begun by Caron Dias, a Jewish resident.

She said: “The murder on our doorsteps yesterday was utterly senseless and totally tragic. While we are seeing an epidemic of violent crime in this country, for it to happen so close to home is hard to ignore. Behind the headlines is a family whose lives have been torn apart.”

The fundraising will help the family of the popular shopkeeper pay for “funeral costs, ongoing financial support – or just to show we care,” said Dias, adding that it was “one practical way we can pour all our disbelief and sadness into something useful”.

Police were called to the family’s newsagents at 6am on Sunday morning and found Katharkamur stabbed. Paramedics treated him at the scene but he died 45 minutes later. Katharkamur, who has lived in Pinner for more than 20 years, had come in early to do the Sunday morning papers.

Detective Chief Inspector Simon Stancombe said it was “a vicious and unwarranted attack on a completely innocent man”.

You can see the fundraising drive here