Girlfriend’s tribute after teen fatally stabbed: ‘He told me he wanted to be a dad’

By Owen Sheppard, local democracy reporter

The girlfriend of a young man who was stabbed to death in West London has spoken of her heartbreak and loneliness.

Hani Solomon, 18, died in the hands of paramedics in Ackmar Road, close to Parsons Green Tube Station, on the evening of February 11.

Scotland Yard has confirmed he died of a knife wound to the chest.

His girlfriend Shaheba Ali, 17, who had been staying with Mr Solomon at his mother’s house in Putney, said: “We were together for nearly six months.

“It used to be just us 24 hours a day. Now I’m so alone.

“I keep waiting, sat up in bed, for him to walk through the door. It’s just horrible.”

Ms Ali said Mr Solomon had been studying at Hammersmith College, and that he grew up in Saudi Arabia before first moving to Harlesden in North West London.

“We met when he came to my birthday last year uninvited,” she said. “We didn’t speak for a while after that, but then we found out we only lived five minutes away from each other [in Putney].

“He asked if I wanted to go for a drive, and then for two months we saw each other every day.

“He loved driving. He would drive me to Birmingham and Reading and random places just for fun.

“Everyone used to say he wasn’t a romantic guy but that he changed after he met me, and that he seemed happier.

“The day before he passed he told me he wanted to be a dad.”

Ms Ali, who also studies at Hammersmith College, said Mr Solomon had been waiting for a new passport to arrive in the post, having just renewed his old one, so that he could apply for a job at an Amazon warehouse.

She said the young man, who spoke Arabic and some Italian, was “extremely close to” and “protective” of his mother.

“He would give her piggy backs and then try and get one from her. Everyone knew how close they were,” she said.

“You wouldn’t need videos to remember him because he had so much energy. There was no other person like him.

“He was very popular, but he was only speaking to a few people regularly.”

Ms Ali also explained that, in the hours before his death, Mr Solomon had told her he was going to meet another young man in Parsons Green.

“He gave me a kiss and said goodbye,” Ms Ali recalled.

After the fight, police say that a second man, aged 20, was taken to hospital with a stab injury and later discharged. He was accompanied by a third man who was not injured.

Police later attended a West London hospital after a 23-year-old man had arrived with injuries that were not life-threatening. The 23-year-old was arrested on suspicion of murder and was subsequently bailed to return on a date in mid March. He remains under a police guard in hospital.

Detectives continue to look for evidence and are calling for witnesses to come forward. The public can call 101 to help the police.

Meanwhile, a local councillor for Parsons Green and Walham ward has told of residents’ growing concerns over crime in the area.

Cllr Mark Loveday, a Conservative who also works as a judge and property barrister, said: “We’re lucky to live in Parsons Green. It’s a lovely place and generally speaking crime is at a relatively low level.

“But there are hot spots particularly around the station and, towards Fulham Broadway and around the drinking establishments.”

He continued: “Residents are concerned about a few things. They see the reduction in Safer Neighbourhood teams, a visible reduction of police on their streets. Then there’s the closure of Fulham Police station, and there’s a feeling that they are less safe beyond their front doors.

“Bicycles are stolen despite being chained up, children are sometimes mugged of their phones and cars get interfered with.”