Supermarket Killing Pair Jailed

A man and woman have been jailed over the death of an innocent man in a queue-jumping row in south London.

Tony Virasami, 38, punched Kevin Tripp to the ground after his 37-year-old partner Antonette Richardson summoned him.

He was jailed for four years after a court found him guilty of manslaughter.

Richardson was sentenced to 18 months for the same charge.

Virasami pleaded guilty to the charge, however, Richardson denied her part in the killing.

Mr Tripp, 57, from Colliers Wood, south-west London, died from a fatal brain injury suffered in the attack.

The father-of-one had been out shopping when an argument broke out.

Witnesses say that Mr Tripp was a bystander in a row over who had arrived at the queue first.

Sentencing Virasami, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin QC said the sentence reflected the "revulsion and concern felt by Mr Tripp's nearest and dearest", and also the "shock and concern felt by the public at large".

The jury heard how Richardson had "egged on" Virasami to take revenge for an earlier confrontation with a fellow Sainsbury’s shopper.

Her trial heard that she was queuing outside the store's cigarette kiosk in Merton, south-west London, when Adam Prendergast accused her of "pushing in". In the "fierce" row that followed, he threatened to knock her out.

"He got very aggressive. I didn't say anything else to him. I was too frightened of his reaction," she said.

She subsequently phoned Virasami, who had been waiting in a car nearby, and when he came in to the store she pointed out Mr Prendergast.

The 38-year-old mistook Mr Tripp for the man and punched him.

The court heard "the most almighty blow" caused Mr Tripp, who suffered from ME, to fall over and bang his head hard on the floor which fractured his skull, causing bleeding on the brain.

He died later in hospital.

(JM/BMcC)