‘I’m broken-hearted’: father pays tribute to student, 21, stabbed in Primrose Hill | London
A film student stabbed to death in London’s Primrose Hill was a “beautiful, pleasant, outgoing, loving” man, his father has said.
Finbar Sullivan, 21, was stabbed during a fight in a north London park in the early evening hours of Tuesday and was pronounced dead at the scene.
His father, Christopher Sullivan, said his son went to the park, a famous beauty spot in the capital popular with tourists and residents, to use a new camera he was given for his birthday.
“This is the worst tragedy I can imagine,” the 65-year-old man said. “He’s my only son… I had him when I was 45. He can never be replaced. He had bought a new camera, we all donated money for his 21st birthday and he took it there to do some filming.”
Sullivan, a musician and founder of the 1980s band Blue Rondo à la Turk, said his son wanted to be a cameraman like his grandfather, Michael Seresin, who worked on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Rambo III.
“I’m so heartbroken, I can’t believe it. He was such a beautiful, sweet, outgoing, loving kid. He was just a really nice person. And we have no idea why he was targeted,” Sullivan said. he told the Daily Mail.
Sullivan said he rushed to Primrose Hill as soon as he became aware of the incident, of which police said video footage was circulating online. “I got the call about a stabbing around six o’clock, so I ran over there right away,” Sullivan said. “I wasn’t allowed in because it was a crime scene and he had gone through 20 minutes of CPR at that point. He was obviously dead.
“This is Primrose Hill, for God’s sake… it’s like Hyde Park. It’s not somewhere you’d expect that.”
Sullivan was a student at the London Screen Academy and had reportedly produced music videos for drill rap artists under the name Sully Shot It.
“All I can tell you is that he was the subject of a random stabbing. He was not a gang member,” his father told the Mail. “He was a cool 21-year-old kid who loved movies and making movies. He didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t go out.”
The Metropolitan Police urged “anyone with any information, including photographs or video” to get in touch.
Detectives specifically appealed to a young female witness who was captured on video wearing a pink vest, blue denim shorts and black sneakers and filmed the incident on her mobile phone.
Detective Constable Andy Griffin, who is leading the investigation, said: “I believe this woman’s account of events and the video she took will provide vital evidence. She has not committed any crime but we would urge her or anyone who knows her to come forward and help our investigation. We need to speak to her as soon as possible.”
No one has been detained yet, the investigation continues.
