Tashan Daniel: Tube stabbing weapon 'was from Fast & Furious film'

Tashan Daniel was attacked on his way to see his favourite team, Arsenal

A knife used to kill a football fan on his way to an Arsenal match was taken from the set of the latest Fast & Furious film, a court heard.

Tashan Daniel, 20, was stabbed to death by Alex Lanning at Hillingdon Tube station last September.

Mr Lanning claimed to jurors at the Old Bailey he took the weapon, which was a film prop, from Warner Bros studios where he worked.

He and his co-defendant Jonathan Camille, of Chelsea, both deny murder.

The weapon, previously shown to the jury, was a £200 German-made knife "designed for NATO military aircraft rescues with the capacity to saw through laminated glass and cut through seatbelts".

The knife is capable of "sawing through the laminated glass of aircraft"

The film F9, the ninth main instalment in the Fast & Furious film franchise, has been delayed until April 2021 due to coronavirus.

Mr Lanning said he took the knife from the "store area" of the Warner Bros studio and wanted it as "memorabilia" of his time there.

When asked by prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC where the weapon came from, Mr Lanning replied: "I got it from the Warner Bros studio.

"I had gadgets I had to clear out, knives and yes I had the knife and I decided to take it."

Mr Daniel's father was at the station watching medics try to keep his son alive, the court heard

Mr Lanning said his father, who also works for Warner Bros, called him and asked if the knife had been taken, but he didn't want to get his dad into trouble for the knife going missing.

Answering questions from his defence barrister John Femi Ola QC, Mr Lanning said he brandished the knife "to scare" Mr Daniel and his friend Treyone Campbell.

The two sets of friends began fighting on the platform after Mr Lanning, of Uxbridge, was "looked at" across the tracks, the court .

'Rash decision'

Mr Lanning told jurors he made a "rash decision" to grab a knife from his bag instead of a glass bottle.

He said: "At that moment in time I thought if I picked the bottle it would be easy for me to smash it use the glass than to use the knife in the sheath.

"After I brandished it expecting them to back away Tashan turned around and pursued me.

"Tashan threw numerous punches at me as I'm still waving the knife at distance. I kept back-pedalling and I had no intention to cause harm to them whatsoever. "

The 20-year-old was a "budding athlete and made friends easily", the Old Bailey has heard

Mr Lanning said he did not know how the knife "became released" from its sheath.

He described giving Mr Daniel a "bear hug" and holding the knife away from Mr Daniel's body.

Mr Lanning continued: "He spun his body and elbowed me in the back of the head causing me to go down and he fell on the floor."

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After the stabbing, Mr Lanning said he and Mr Camille fled the station and discarded the knife and clothing in a nearby housing estate.

Mr Lanning said he took some floral pyjamas "because he was scared and covered in blood"

He also told the jury he took a child's scooter because his right knee was "in a lot of pain".

The 22-year-old said in court that he accepted a manslaughter charge citing he had "taken someone's life by the actions I caused".

But he added, "I never meant to kill anybody".

'Surprise birthday'

Asked by Mr Rees about his friendship with Mr Camille, Mr Lanning said the pair met in a nightclub in Uxbridge and "instantly clicked".

The prosecutor asked why the pair had not seen or spoken to each other until a day before the stabbing and Mr Lanning replied that he was busy with work.

Mr Lanning added that the pair arranged to meet at Hillingdon station as part of a "surprise birthday" for Mr Camille.

The trial continues.