Welsh music star’s devastation as son is murdered in broad daylight
Mathilde Grandjean, Press Association
A 21-year-old filmmaking student who was stabbed to death in a north London park “can never be replaced”, his Welsh father has said.
Finbar Sullivan was stabbed in a fight in Primrose Hill in the early evening on Tuesday and, despite the efforts of paramedics, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Merthyr-born Chris Sullivan, a musician and founder of influential 1980s band Blue Rondo a la Turk, told the Daily Mail his son wanted to become a cameraman like his grandfather Michael Seresin – who worked on Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban and Rambo III – and had gone to the park to use a new camera he had got for his birthday.
“This is the worst tragedy I could ever imagine,” the 65-year-old told the newspaper on Thursday.
“He’s my only son… I had him when I was 45. He can never be replaced.
“He’d just bought a new camera, we all chipped in for his 21st birthday, and he took it up there to do a bit of filming.”
Mr Sullivan, who also founded one of London’s most famous nitespots The Wag Club, added: “I’m so broken-hearted, I can’t believe it.
“He was the most beautiful, lovely, outgoing, loving boy. He was just a really lovely person.
“And why he was targeted, we have no idea.”
Mr Sullivan said he rushed to Primrose Hill as soon as he was informed of the incident – of which police said on Wednesday video footage was circulating online.
“I got the call at about six that he’d been stabbed, so I rushed up there,” Mr Sullivan told the Daily Mail.
“I wasn’t allowed in because it was a crime scene, and by that point he’d had 20 minutes of CPR. He’d obviously died.
“It’s Primrose Hill, for God’s sake… it’s like Hyde Park. It’s not somewhere you expect this.”
Finbar Sullivan was a student at the London Screen Academy and produced music videos for drill rap artists under the name Sully Shot It, the Daily Mail reported.
Despite the drill rap scene’s association with gang violence, Mr Sullivan denied his son was involved in any of it.
“All I can tell you is he was the subject of an indiscriminate stabbing. He was not a gang member,” Mr Sullivan told the Daily Mail.
“He was just a little groovy 21-year-old who loved movies and making films. He didn’t drink, he didn’t smoke, he didn’t go out.
“He’d stay at home editing his films six nights a week. He wanted to follow in his (grandfather’s footsteps) and be a cameraman.
“He recently did a video for Joseph Corre, Vivienne Westwood’s son.
“We were just about to start a company together… he was going to do his showreel today with me. And now he’s dead.”
Mr Sullivan added: “His friend was stabbed in the back and hands trying to protect him.
“My son always tried to stand up for people, so maybe the attacker was bullying someone.”
The Metropolitan Police have urged “anyone who has any information, including photos or videos” to get in touch.
UPDATE
Detectives investigating the murder of Finbar Sullivan in Primrose Hill, London, are appealing for a young witness, captured in footage of a fight shortly before the 21-year-old was stabbed to death, to come forward.
The film of the fight went viral as it was viewed hundreds of thousands of times online. It showed youths running at each other with what appeared to be knives, as crowds in the park enjoyed the sunshine on Tuesday evening.
The online video also depicts a young woman or teenager, wearing a pink vest, blue denim shorts and black trainers, appearing to film the fight on her mobile phone as it unfolds.
In a statement on Thursday, the Metropolitan Police said the young woman “has not committed any offences and is being treated as a significant witness”.
Detective Inspector Andy Griffin, who is leading the investigation, added: “My team continues to pursue several urgent lines of enquiry to establish why Fin tragically lost his life.
“I believe this woman’s account of events, as well as the video she captured, will provide vital evidence. To reiterate, she has not committed any offence but we are urging her, or anyone who may know her, to come forward and assist our investigation. We need to speak to her as soon as possible.”
No arrests have been made and the investigation continues, police added.
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England, particularly London, has become an unruly “Wild West” frontier where being stabbed or shot has sadly become commonplace.
In rightly wanting to talk up Wales, please don’t spout all that Reform nonsense. London’s homicide rate per capita is actually at a record low and lower than most large European cities, including four others in England. But yes, there’s no denying it’s a big place and awful things like this do happen.
The homicide rate per person in London was at a low last year , but it was within the statistical variation. The knife crime remains the highest in Britain, significant higher than Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow.
I’m afraid that the homicide rate in London has been cherry picked and spinned. There were fewer homicides in 2014(95) than in 2025(97), but because the population has increased the rate per population in slightly smaller, and that is the number that is quoted. Secondly the statistical uncertainty on the numbers ie sigma is 10 so we would expect a variation of 10 to 20 between annual counts by sheer randomness. However the Police and the GLC have seized this number and made great capital from it. Colloquially it is called Cherry Picking.