A 22-year-old man from Southall who stabbed a 21-year-old student to death on the tracks at Strawberry Hill station in Twickenham has been jailed for life.
Dino Donaldson of Caxton Road, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday (6 November 2026) to a minimum term of 23 years for the murder of Anojan Gnaneswaran. He was found guilty at a retrial on 14 April.
Jurors heard that two groups of young men had arranged to meet at the station on 8 January 2024 to exchange £50 for 10 MDMA tablets. An argument broke out and Mr Gnaneswaran called his younger brother, Ashvin, who came to the station with two others.
The court heard that Donaldson stabbed Mr Gnaneswaran in the abdomen before following him on to the tracks and stabbing him in the chest as he lay on the ground. His brother called 999 and began CPR. Paramedics took over, but he died at the scene.
British Transport Police traced Donaldson’s movements on CCTV as he fled towards Kingston upon Thames. Footage from an N87 night bus showed him laughing less than an hour after Mr Gnaneswaran was pronounced dead. Police recovered a knife and a black glove from a tree at the scene and arrested Donaldson three days later after finding him hiding in a cupboard at his Southall home.
Mr Gnaneswaran was in his third year studying accounting and finance. He held a first-dan black belt in karate and had competed at world and European championships.
In a statement read to the court, Nesar Gnaneswaran, Anojan’s father: “We were lucky to have him in our lives for the short time we did. But he should still be here. Our family will never be the same.”
