Age: 22
Sex: male
Date: 2 Dec 2013
Place: Oldfield Road, Stoke Newington, London
Antonio Rodney-Cole was stabbed in the leg shortly before 11.30pm on 2 December 2013. It was thought that he had been stabbed in Oldfield Road but had then managed to get in his car and drive round to Marton Road near the junction with Stoke Newington Church Street, where he pulled over and collapsed through loss of blood.
After he was found, he was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead.
His post-mortem, held on 3 December 2013 at the Poplar Mortuary, stated that his cause of death was a stab wound to the leg.
During their investigation, the police arrested five people, four men and a youth, first two men on 5 December 2013 and the others on 6 December 2013, but they were all later released.
Antonio Rodney-Cole had been associated with the Smalley Bois gang and had been involved in an attack on a rival gang member from the SOS gang, a 17-year-old, in September 2010 in Stoke Newington. He and five other people were convicted for the attack, Antonio Rodney-Cole being convicted for attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, on 15 February 2011 and sentenced to 3 years and 9 months imprisonment.
However, at the time of his murder it was not known whether he had still been associated with the Smalley Bois gang or any other gangs.
The police said that they were examining possible links to gangs or drugs but added that they had not ruled out any other motives.
The police said that prior to him being stabbed, they thought that Antonio Rodney-Cole had been in the street talking to two men, adding that they were keen to find out who those men were. A man said that he saw Antonio Rodney-Cole talking to the two men in his car and that he saw them then get out and leave hastily after hearing Antonio Rodney-Cole say, 'Don't go off like that'. He said that Antonio Rodney-Cole then called over to him saying, 'Big man, call me an ambulance', but that he then drove off. However, the man said that when Antonio Rodney-Cole came back moments later and that he saw that there was a lot of blood on the floor of his car and that Antonio Rodney-Cole had a cut to his hand. The man said, 'When I tried to help him I saw there was a knife on his lap. The whole incident lasted about 10 to 15 minutes from when I first saw the men'.
Antonio Rodney-Cole had driven his Seat hatchback car into Marton Road and pulled over onto the pavement near some houses where he was later found hunched up at the wheel.
After he was found he was treated by an off-duty doctor who had been in the nearby Fat Cat Cafe, at which point the doctor had said that he was still alive. A witness said that the doctor had said that Antonio Rodney-Cole had been stabbed five times. It was later reported that he had been stabbed three times in the leg.
His inquest in August 2020 heard that it was thought that he had been killed for a list of contacts that he kept on his mobile phone. A detective said that they thought that his attackers 'wanted to steal his mobile phone to sell drugs from, so in essence the contacts on that phone'.
The police said that they had enough evidence to charge a known suspect with robbery and murder, but that they didn't know where the suspect was.
Antonio Rodney-Cole had lived in Colvestone Crescent in Dalston.
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