Tashan Daniel: Killer jailed for 25 years after murdering athlete who gave him ‘funny look’ at train station

20-year-old Tashan Daniel fatally stabbed by Alex Lanning at Hillingdon Station while on way to watch Arsenal play Nottingham Forest

Alex Lanning, 22, from Hillingdon and Jonathan Camille, 19, from Fulham, on the day of the murder of Tashan Daniel (PA)

A man who fatally stabbed a talented athlete in the chest during a row over a “funny look” has been jailed for a minimum of 25 years.

Tashan Daniel, 20, was murdered on the afternoon of 24 September last year while on his way to watch Arsenal play Nottingham Forest in the third round of the Carabao Cup.

Alex Lanning, 22, and his co-defendant Jonathan Camille, 19, had been on the opposite platform at Hillingdon Station as Daniel and his friend, Treyone Campbell, waited for their train.

Lanning, from Hillingdon, who had been on licence for a previous knife attack in Brighton, picked a fight after accusing the victim and Mr Campbell of “looking at him” across the tracks.

The two defendants allegedly got angry when Daniel told him to “be quiet and get on your train”, after Lanning had asked him aggressively: “What are you looking at?”

During the fight, Lanning pulled out a 5.5 inch blade and stabbed Daniel once in the chest.

The whole incident lasted just 34 seconds.

Two separate witnesses apparently saw Lanning laughing about the attack as he fled the scene with Mr Camille.

The pair were not tracked down until 10 days later in central London.

Lanning admitted manslaughter but was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey on 6 August.

Camille, from Fulham, was handed a six-and-a-half year prison sentence after being convicted of manslaughter.

“This was a disgraceful display of violence for which there was no possible justification or excuse, said Judge Mark Dennis QC, as he sentenced the two men to prison.

“You are both comparatively young men, however you are both old enough and mature enough to know what you were doing and to make your own choices.”

Tashan Daniel had turned 20 two days before the attack (PA)

Camille told the jury he did not know his friend was carrying a knife, though Judge Dennis said the 19-year-old had willingly participated in the attack and done nothing to restrain Lanning.

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

Mr Dennis said: “The deceased had just turned 20 two days before, he was a dedicated and talented athlete and he had a promising future before him.

“His and Treyone Campbell’s lives could not have been further from the violence and aggression which they were unexpectedly subjected to on that day.”

Additional reporting by PA