Stoke Newington stabbing: Man knifed to death just days after he was reunited with estranged family following nearly two decades apart

A man who was stabbed to death in London was a “loving father” who had recently been reunited with estranged relatives, his family said today.

Steve Brown, 47, was knifed in the heart outside a builder’s merchants in Mathias Road, Stoke Newington.

He was pronounced dead at the scene at about 6pm on Wednesday last week.

His sister Sonia Lawrence, who lives in Florida, said the father-of-five was “a jolly man who never stopped laughing” and when she came over for 10 days “he met me at Heathrow and ran over to me and gave me the biggest hug.

It was the first time I’d seen him in 20 years.” She said he had been “so happy to have all his family around him”, adding: “We are all heartbroken”. Eight people aged 23 to 62 were held on suspicion of murder and released under investigation.