‘My dad was stabbed outside our front door and practically died in my lap - we still haven’t gotten justice 30 years on'
A ‘fun-loving’ father practically died in his daughter's lap after being stabbed to death outside his family home in East Ham. 30 years on his family are appealing to the public for help to find his killer.
Mr Hussain's daughter Yasmin was just ten years old when her father was murdered outside the door of their family home, on Burnels Avenue, in East Ham. He had been returning home from the Croydon restaurant he owned with his brother in the early hours of the morning on September 18, 1994, at around 2.35am.
"He was screaming for help outside the door - 'help help police’ - but no one heard him that night apart from me because I was awake. He collapsed on my lap and I asked 'who did this to you?' And he said it was two Asians," said Yasmin.
"Obviously that trauma still remains with me and every time I try my best to do as much as I can to find my dad’s killers because he pretty much died in my lap."
Mr Hussain, who is believed to have been getting out of his blue Vauxhall Cavalier when he was stabbed, made the first call to police from a pay phone next to his home before ringing the doorbell, according to Yasmin. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance but after losing a lot of blood, he passed away.
His daughter, now 40, says Mr Hussain was an incredible father to herself and her two brothers, aged seven, and seven-months-old at the time. She said: “He was fun-loving, sociable, a community man. He's helped so many people in his young life he was always there for others."
'What would be the reason for someone to pull a knife out and stab someone through the heart?'
She added: “The whole neighbourhood, the whole street, he knew all the neighbours. He used to send food round and the kids all knew him at the school we used to go to. He’s not one of those people who has enemies, he’s not one of those people who causes trouble.
"What would be the reason for someone to pull a knife out and stab someone through the heart? To a man that’s always been there for others?"
Mr Hussain’s family has found it hard to move on from his death, feeling as if they have never got real justice for what happened to him. Yasmin says that sometimes people still get in contact with her, to tell her they remember how lovely her father was.
“My mum and my dad were madly in love with each other. To this day my mum never married, to this day she still cries for my dad, because she never had closure,” she said.
“Because the killers are still out there, she still has the fear of going outside sometimes because they’re out there still so she never got to move on.”
On previous anniversaries of Mr Hussain's death, the Metropolitan Police Service has issued appeals information. This year Yasmin has found it harder to get support from police with this.
“It's obviously very hard and very devastating because at the end of the day for them if they’ve forgotten it’s okay, but we’re the ones whose lives have been affected, we lost our dad, we lost our rock,” she said.
Case was reviewed by police last month
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with Mr Atek Hussain's family on the 30th anniversary of his murder in East London.
"Atek Hussain, 32, who was also known as Shalim, was attacked outside of his home address in Burnels Avenue E5 in the early hours of Sunday, 18 September 1994.
"He had spent the evening working at his family-run restaurant in Croydon before arriving home at around 02:35hrs, having driven two employees home to Poplar beforehand.
"Officers believe he had just got out of his blue Vauxhall Cavalier and was walking towards his front door when he was attacked and stabbed in the chest.
"He managed to stagger to his home and tell his family that his attackers were Asian before collapsing.
"The case is not currently active. However no murder investigation is ever closed. Mr Atek's case was last reviewed by the Met's Serious Crime Review Group on 13 August 2024.
"Should any new information come to light it will be assessed accordingly.
"If you have information that could help police, call 101 or post @MetCC, or to remain 100% anonymous contact the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111, or visit crimestoppers-uk.org."
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