Man killed in Sainsbury queue mistaken for yob

Engineer Kevin Tripp was hit so hard in the face he collapsed to the floor, unconscious, in a pool of blood.

Police launched a murder inquiry and are investigating reports that he was attacked following a row over queue-jumping at Sainsbury's in Merton.

Mr Tripp, who had a long-term partner and a five-year-old child, was taken to hospital after the assault on Tuesday but died last night.

Witnesses described how he was punched by a man who mistakenly thought he had been arguing with his wife. The woman had apparently been involved in a row with an 18-year-old in the car park outside the store in Merton High Street.

Some reports suggested that she accused the teenager of queue jumping. A few minutes later she spotted the youth arguing with a member of staff at the customer services counter and alerted her husband. But as the angry husband approached, he apparently mistakenly picked on the innocent Mr Tripp who was waiting in the queue behind the youth, knocking him to the ground.

Mr Tripp, who suffered from ME, lived with his family in Colliers Wood. He is believed to have hit his head as he fell, causing critical injuries.

Mauricette Kouadio, 40, a customer services staff member, saw the whole incident. "There was a very rude 18- or 19-year-old guy shouting at me at the desk, insulting me and telling me he would 'break my face'. I would not serve him because he was so insulting," she said. "Earlier he had said something rude to a woman in the car park.

"She came upstairs with her husband and said to him 'That's the guy, that's the guy'. Standing behind the youth was an innocent man, waiting to be served. He fell on the floor. He had a cut to his head, there was blood in his nose, his

mouth was full of blood - it was everywhere. He got the wrong guy."

The victim was taken to St George's Hospital in Tooting where he was resuscitated but later lapsed into a coma.

Mr Tripp ran a website which detailed how he had suffered polio as a child and suffered his first bout of ME in 1988.

Tony Virasami, 37, from Lewisham, appeared at Wimbledon magistrates' court today charged with murder.

VICTIM HAD STRUGGLED WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS FOR YEARS

Kevin Tripp ran a website for ME sufferers and wrote about his condition. Here are excerpts from his piece Kevin's Story: "In 1988 I was a happy guy in my late thirties. I had a great job. A happy long-term relationship. I enjoyed socialising, swimming and playing squash. I took my health for granted, as you do. I never would have expected to become a victim of a chronic illness like ME.

"In the spring of 1988, my partner caught flu. I got the same infection. It wasn't the worst flu I'd experienced, but I didn't know what a milestone it would become. After two weeks I appeared to be well enough to return to work. I noticed I felt really washed out, normal after flu, but the fatigue never subsided.

...By 1994 I had worsened to the point where I could hardly walk. I needed to claim sickness benefit as there was no way I could work.

...Today 2001 I'm still unwell. My muscles feel like they are borrowed from someone else, they are stiff and achy, feel poisoned, and have wasted considerably. I was 10.5 stone, I now am nine stone (and six feet tall). I get terrible brain fog.

...When you are suffering from a long-term illness, you sort of have to accept it. You stop grieving for things you can't do. The trouble with this illness is it keeps changing, you start to feel better, and your mind says I'm OK, I can think about work, I'm over it. Then you get polarised in the other direction and you think there's no hope. I, like many ME sufferers, do have hope that one day we will find the answers.