Jonathon McPhillips, 28, was attacked late on Friday night on Upper Street

POLICE were last night (Thursday) hunting six men after a father-of-two was stabbed to death by a gang in Upper Street as he tried to protect a teenage friend.

Jonathon McPhillips, also known as JJ, who lived in nearby Milner Square, was chased down and stabbed in what police have described as an “unprovoked attack” late on Friday night.

The former Highbury Grove pupil was standing with a group of between six and eight young men outside Islington Assembly Hall when they were suddenly rushed by a group of six men dressed in hoods and dark clothing who came from the direction of Richmond Grove. Mr McPhillips, whose two daughters are both aged under five, tried to run away but one or more of his attackers caught up with him and he was stabbed in the chest.

A friend of Mr McPhillips told the Tribune the 28-year-old had been trying to protect a 17-year-old boy, who was stabbed twice in the back but escaped without serious injuries.

Arsenal fan Mr McPhillips staggered 200 yards up the road before collapsing outside Be At One, a cocktail bar, while the attackers disappeared down Richmond Grove.

Police and the London Ambulance Service were called at 12.40am and Mr McPhillips was taken to an east London hospital, where he died three days later.

Shane Yerrell, a friend, said: “That’s just the kind of guy he was. When I was with him he would always be the one protecting the younger people. But now it’s cost him his life.”

The shrine to the father-of-two in Milner Square

The victim’s mother, Michelle, who formerly ran a pub in Waltham Abbey and more recently worked for the Green Man pub in Essex Road, announced her son’s death online with a picture of herself and her son on a moped, with the caption: “Take me to heaven with you. Ride high and look down.”

Mr McPhillips had battled to stay alive at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel before a decision was made to switch off life support on Tuesday evening.
Mr Yerrell visited him shortly before he died.

“He was great,” he said. “He was one of the most honest and genuine people you could ever meet. He was so positive and could lift anyone out a bad mood with his personality. There wasn’t a bad bone in his body.”

Friends and family gathered at a shrine outside Mr McPhillips’ home in Milner Square, just off Upper Street, on Wednesday, but were too upset to speak to the Tribune.

Emotional tributes were written on a sheet at a makeshift candlelit shrine, which also included a moped. A neighbour wrote: “The square will never be the same without you.”

And cousin Georgia Sparkes wrote: “My one and only King Jar! Words cannot describe how much I love you Jar, who’s gonna nick my fags and chew my ears off till 5 in the morning!”

She later told the Tribune: “JJ was one of a kind. His cheeky personality and sense of humour would light up the whole room. There was never a dull moment, he would always make you smile and laugh, even at his bad jokes.

“He was the most devoted father and loved his children with his every breath. They absolutely adored him.

“As a family we are broken. We went to him whenever we needed help, he would listen to all of our moaning and he would never judge. We will carry him in our hearts forever and his memory will always live on.”

A crowdfunding page has been set up to support Mr McPhillips’ two daughters

The Homicide and Major Crime Command (HMCC), led by Detective Chief Inspec­tor Dave Whellams, is investigating.
Police are working on the assumption that members of the rival groups were known to each other. One line of enquiry is that there could have been a previous altercation between members of the two groups.

The teenager injured in the attack has refused to co-operate with police.

DCI Whellams said: “This was an area of Upper Street which is always busy on a Friday night going into the weekend. I am sure there would have been many people present who would have witnessed the altercation between two groups of youths.

“I would urge those people to contact our incident room and tell us what they have seen. This seems to be a totally unprovoked attack which has resulted in the death of a young man and left a teenager injured.”

DCI Whellams is also leading the investigating into the murder of David Robinson, 25, in Archway last year.

Mr Yerrell has set up a crowdfunding page to support Mr McPhillips’ two daughters. It has raised £660 in just 24 hours.

“I hope we can make a big difference in their lives after they have cruelly had their dad taken away,” said Mr Yerrell. To donate visit www.gofundme.com/3g7hjp4

A post-mortem exmination is scheduled for Friday. No arrests had been made as the Tribune went to press last night (Thursday).

Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call the incident room on 020 8345 3775, or to give information anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org