A magistrate court in Willesden, north-west London, remanded one Marcus Griffiths for the murder of a 40-year-old Nigerian football coach Michael Olatunde Fadayomi on Thursday, April 29.

Griffiths, 42, was arrested and charged with being in possession of a bladed object and for repeatedly stabbing Fadayomi to death during an argument.

Fadayomi, a single dad, had reportedly received a phone call from his unnamed teenage son who was heading for his football training ground, saying he had trouble with someone in the bus.

He rushed to the scene to intervene, but the altercation escalated and Griffiths brought out a knife and stabbed him repeatedly, as other passengers, including his son and bystanders, watched in horror.

The victim has been hailed as a ‘pillar of the community’ who was ‘in the wrong place at the wrong time.’

A neighbour, simply identified as Vanessa, told MyLondon that Fadayomi had singlehandedly cared for his son since he was born and that she was in shock at his death.

“I’m still in shock. A bad word never would come out of his mouth. He died saving his kid. He was a pillar of the community. It really breaks my heart,” she said.

Emergency services rushed to the scene shortly after 5pm, but despite the best efforts of paramedics, Fadayomi died.

Dental nurse Tracey Dolling, 43, who rushed across the road to help the victim, told The Sun: “I did CPR. It’s very, very sad, awful, absolutely devastating.”

Griffiths was remanded in custody to appear in court on a date yet to be determined.