Dino Donaldson is facing a life sentence for the murder of Anojan Gnaneswaran after bragging: ‘I stabbed him through the back bro, I stabbed him fully. I watched it and I felt it go in him, yeah’
This is the moment a drug dealer laughs on a night bus after murdering a university student and boasting “I stabbed him fully”.
Dino Donaldson, 21, was caught on CCTV smiling and joking after repeatedly plunging a blade into Anojan Gnaneswaran, 21, at Strawberry Hill train station in Twickenham, south west London. Donaldson was also captured on the audio of a doorbell camera bragging: “I stabbed him through the back bro, I stabbed him fully. I watched it and I felt it go in him, yeah.”
He knifed his terrified victim in the chest, abdomen and thigh after chasing him onto train tracks on January 8, 2024. A fight had broken out on the station platform between two groups of men over a drug deal to pay £50 for 10 ecstasy tablets.
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Anojan, a third year accounting and finance student who competed in the World and European championships in karate, was pronounced dead at the scene. Less than an hour later, Donaldson was caught on CCTV on an N87 night bus smiling and laughing.
Wearing a black hooded top and puffer jacket while sitting on the back seat of the top deck, he leans over grinning and fist bumps a friend while they appear to share a joke. Donaldson was arrested at his home in west London three days later where he was discovered hiding in a cupboard.
Police found 74 wraps of crack and heroin in his bedroom with a street value of more than £1,000. Following the unanimous verdict at the Old Bailey on Tuesday, Judge Angela Rafferty KC remanded the defendant in custody and adjourned sentencing to a date to be fixed.
British Transport Police Det Chief Insp Paul Attwell said: “What started as an argument over a drug deal ended in a young man’s life being cut short by a remorseless thug. Donaldson showed his true colours as a coward by arming himself with a knife that night.
“His cowardice has continued by never accepting responsibility and admitting his crime – thankfully the jury saw through his lies. While no verdict can ever compensate for the loss of Anojan, I hope today’s outcome provides his family with some sense of closure.
“Thanks to our extensive investigation, justice has now been served to the man responsible for killing their loved one.”
Anojan’s family paid tribute to a “much-loved son and brother”. In a statement issued through police, they said: “Anojan was in his third year at university studying accounting and finance, and he was so excited for his future.
“He excelled at all sports and had achieved first-dan black belt in karate – he competed in the World and European championships in karate, and we will all miss him so much.”
