Life term for murder of 'kind-hearted' bus driver

Derek Thomas would have turned 56 this week. But instead of a celebration, his family held a small gathering in his memory.

The much-loved grandfather and bus driver was murdered last July.

He had been walking home from his late shift in Stoke Newington, north-east London, when he was repeatedly stabbed.

The killer was Kamar Williams, the ex-boyfriend of Mr Thomas's daughter Carron.

Williams, 34, has now been jailed for life with a minimum term of 29 years.

In sentencing, Judge Angela Rafferty KC said Williams, who had 13 previous convictions, had been "simmering with rage" after arguing with his ex partner and Mr Thomas had been unarmed and completely defenceless.

She told him: "You alone are responsible for this killing. This was a merciless and determined attack.

"You killed him even though at one time you saw him as a father figure.

"You knew that targeting him would hurt them all. "

In a victim impact statement, Carron said she lived every day with "overwhelming guilt".

"I once loved and trusted this person. I welcomed him into my life and my family's home, never imagining he would do something so heartless and cruel."

Mr Thomas's sister read out her victim impact statement, which said her brother had been "cruelly and brutally ripped away".

"I will never hear his words, 'I love you, sis,' again."

The judge told her she had "done her brother proud."

Ms Thomas described her brother as "a kind-hearted, dedicated, committed family man. He took his role as a parent absolutely seriously."

She said she'd been very close to Derek, who was the youngest of 19 siblings, an avid Arsenal fan who loved his job as a bus driver for Go-Ahead London.

"He loved serving people, working with the elderly, disabled people, women getting on the bus with buggies. He was so committed, even during Covid."

She said a number of his colleagues had also paid tribute to him on Wednesday, marking what would have been his birthday.

The Old Bailey heard that on the evening of 30 July, Carron had received threatening and abusive texts from Williams, one of which warned her to "watch this space."

She called police twice before her father was attacked, but when officers went to look for him Williams had disappeared.

He had gone on the run after the attack, trying to evade police a number of times, the Metropolitan Police said, before being caught at Notting Hill Carnival where he was arrested.

Williams, from the Isle of Dogs in east London, claimed he had acted in self-defence after Mr Thomas produced a knife.

The jury did not believe him and unanimously found him guilty of murder, and guilty of having a bladed article by an 11-to-one majority.

"He spouted a pack of lies," Ms Thomas said.

He was "quite manipulative, and sometimes very cruel to my niece".

"My whole family are angry with him. We've had the court case, but we haven't really had any answers.

"It leaves me with a bitter taste in my mouth that my brother's life was taken, and what for?"

She said she has not been able to sleep properly since her brother's death.

"I sometimes have nightmares, wondering what it would have been like if I was there? Could I have prevented it from happening?"

The Thomas family hope Derek would be remembered for his community spirit, and how, even after ill health had prevented him from playing football, he had continued to coach young people in Stoke Newington.

"I think society has gone downhill," Ms Thomas said.

"They're not being the village that should raise a child, instead people are left to their own devices. But there are people, like my brother, like myself, who take an interest in younger lives, who want the best for them.

"If we could do it as a brother and sister, we could do it as a community.

"He was a special person, I miss him immensely.

"Life will never be the same."

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