Young father shot dead at music studio was turning his life around

A YOUNG father shot dead by a gunman in Archway on Saturday was trying to turn his life around after converting to Islam in prison, it has been revealed.

David Robinson, 25, also known as Dawood, was shot numerous times, including in the head, in what police have described as a “cold-blooded” attack at a music studio in Sunnyside Road. 

Police believe an altercation that began inside the relatively unknown Big House 101 music studio just before 9pm resulted in the father-of-one being shot at point-blank range.

“This was a cold-blooded, very calculated and targeted attack,” said Detective Chief Inspector Dave Whellams, who is leading a 25-strong murder squad from the Met’s Homicide and Major Crime Command. “Somebody has targeted him for a specific reason.”

Witnesses described paramedics battling to save Mr Robinson’s life. He was taken to the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, but was pronounced dead just after midnight. 

Mr Robinson, who lived with his mother and brother in Barnsbury, grew up in the borough and was a former pupil of Islington Arts and Media School. He has a young daughter with an ex-girlfriend who lives in Leicester.

Flowers were left at the scene of the murder this week as friends took to social media to express their grief. Jordan Buitrago wrote: “RIP Brother Dawood AKA Monkey, can honestly say he was one of the nicest brothers I ever met and he always took time to help you if you was in need Mashallah. May Allah Reward him.”

Another woman said: “Omg can’t believe what I just heard RIP Monkey another life gone and taken too young.”

The Tribune understands Mr Robinson was linked to gangs in his late teens and had a number of convictions for violence, drugs and knife possession. He was jailed for 18 months and given an anti-social behaviour order for his part in a street brawl in 2011.

However, he converted to Islam while in prison and had been trying to break away from his criminal past following his release, finding a new, positive direction in religion and spoken word poetry.

He frequented the studio – based at the former shop of a petrol station, part of which is now occupied by a car wash – to record “nasheed” music. Lyrics of the chanting music, either sung a cappella or accompanied by percussion instruments, usually make reference to Islamic beliefs, history and current events.

A man in his 20s who works close to the scene of the murder said this week: “What people are saying is that he came from prison, where he became a Muslim and changed his name to Dawood.

“On the night apparently there were a lot of boys on a nearby estate drinking and getting high in the garden bit of the estate while he was doing his music. They must have known he was here and they moved here. One of them had a gun and just used it. There were a lot of boys.

“Apparently he was saying: ‘Stop! I’m not getting involved in this kind of stuff anymore.’ Then they shot him three times.”

The man added: “I’m thinking because of his past maybe someone wanted to take revenge. Even though suddenly now he’s a changed man.”   

Police believe that on the night he was killed Mr Robinson had gone to the studio to meet someone. 

Detectives said they are pursuing “all lines of inquiry” in the search for a motive. They are not sure whether the shooting was the result of an argument that got out of hand or the tragic consequence of a long-standing grudge between victim and killer. 

“We believe he [Mr Robinson] went to the studio to meet someone,” DCI Whellams added. “We believe David was involved in an altercation that began inside the music studio. That altercation resulted in him being shot.

“We know there were people in the area at the time, both inside and outside the venue, and would like to hear from anyone who saw or heard anything suspicious or who has any information about what happened.

“If someone has seen something, even if they think it’s not important, we would like them to come forward and they can speak to us in confidence.”

The Big House studio, which opened in February of last year, remained closed this week as police guarded the scene. The building had previously been a pottery shop.