Man Convicted of Murdering Student Over Drug Deal

A 21-year-old man from west London was convicted of murder on Tuesday after stabbing a university student to death during a dispute over a drug deal at a train station in southwest London.

Dino Donaldson, of Caxton Road in Ealing, was found guilty by a unanimous jury at the Old Bailey of killing Anojan Gnaneswaran on January 8, 2024, at Strawberry Hill station in Twickenham. The incident began as an argument on the station platform between two groups of men over a transaction involving 50 pounds for 10 MDMA tablets. Witnesses reported that the confrontation escalated into a fight, prompting Donaldson to chase Gnaneswaran, also 21, onto the tracks. There, Donaldson stabbed him multiple times in the chest, abdomen, and thigh. Emergency services pronounced Gnaneswaran dead at the scene.

Investigators quickly traced Donaldson through surveillance footage. Less than an hour after the attack, CCTV captured him on an N87 night bus, where he appeared to be smiling and laughing. Audio from a nearby doorbell camera later recorded him describing the stabbing, saying, "I stabbed him through the back bro, I stabbed him fully. I watched it and I felt it go in him, yeah."