Ahmed Jama ‘delivering for Amazon' when he was stabbed on Kilburn estate
Friday, 12th January — By Tom Foot
Mr Jama grew up around Rowley Way
AN Amazon worker was stabbed to death on his delivery round by a killer who remains on the run a fortnight after the attack, it was revealed at a public meeting this week.
Ahmed Jama, who lived most of his life around Rowley Way, was attacked outside several front doors of the Abbey Estate, Kilburn, at around 7pm on December 29.
Police told frustrated residents at a public meeting on Monday night they were stretched thin, while senior council chiefs were slammed over a CCTV black hole that had hampered the investigation.
Speaking of Mr Jama, one resident said: “He had moved away with his family. It had nothing to do with gang violence.
“He is an Amazon driver. That’s why he visited the area. He came back here to do his deliveries.”
Cllr Pat Callaghan, deputy leader of Camden Council, confirmed that Mr Jama “delivered all around the Kilburn area”.
The dangers and conditions faced by Amazon delivery workers have been taken up by Islington-based law firm Leigh Day in a group action legal claim.
Last week the New Journal reported how the nation’s focus had fallen on the knife attack on
Harry Pitman at the top of Primrose Hill on New Year, while Mr Jama’s death appeared to go under the radar.
The meeting on Monday heard how the investigation had been hindered by a black hole in CCTV coverage on the Abbey Estate where Mr Jama was found lying with stab wounds outside the front doors of several homes.
The failure to provide a working CCTV system has been a longstanding bugbear of residents on both the Abbey and neighbouring Alexandra and Ainsworth estates.
A woman told the meeting how her nephew had been killed in a knife attack but “the reasons the court case fell apart was a lack of CCTV cameras” on the estate.
She said: “They killed him outside our house. My sister heard my nephew screaming. CCTV is a passion of our community because so many are dying on our doorsteps.
“For any parent to hear a child screaming is heartbreaking. When I heard this had happened again in our area – it’s ridiculous.”
Cllr Callaghan admitted “it is a huge problem in Camden” with a “not fit for purpose” camera system, but she said a new updated system was being introduced this year that would provide crystal-clear images to police carrying out future investigations.
A senior council official had told the meeting: “We are aware there are no CCTV on these estates.”
She confirmed a system upgrade this year was expected to include both Abbey and Alexandra and Ainsworth estates.
Residents reacted angrily, saying there had been consistent promises of updated CCTV systems, while others questioned what their service charge payments were being spent on.
The meeting heard criticism that there was often a “flurry of activities” from police and the council following fatal knife attacks, but knives and guns were regularly stashed in bushes and nothing was done.
An elderly woman said: “I have been on this estate for 47 years and now I don’t even open the door.
“To go the dustbins, there’s always some ‘creepyoid’ down there.”
There was criticism of police for a lack of ethnic representation among officers in Kilburn and suggestions this may be preventing witnesses contacting the authorities about the killing of Mr Jama, of Somalian heritage.
Camden Safer Neighbourhood Team police chief Stevie Bull invited people from ethnic minority backgrounds to join the police to address the problem.
She said she was working on “uplifting the team” in Kilburn, adding: “We are having lots of conversations internally about the level of resources. We are conscious of the level and nature of crime that is happening.
It is a priority that we bring more resources to the area. It’s going to take a bit of time. We need more of us, essentially.”
She spoke about the need to have conversations with knife crime “not just with children going back to school this week” who could be involved in youth violence.
“We have to make sure we need to be having the right engagement in place with people who are older too,” she said.
She said she was unable to confirm for deny anything about the investigation, but she said: “Teams have done a lot of work looking at the wider area.”
The Met Police were invited to comment but did not respond.
Amazon could not be reached for comment.