A man has been charged with murder after a young father was knifed to death outside a nightclub in an area plagued by drink-fuelled crime.

Nicholas Henry, 33, from Ealing, was found stabbed in the chest near Raduno, Charterhouse Street, Farringdon, at 8.15am on Sunday. He died in hospital 90 minutes later.

His grieving relatives yesterday described him as a great dad to his four-year-old son and said he was also his elderly grandmother’s carer.

A family statement added: “Nicholas lived an amazing life, even though it has been cut tragically short.

“Everyone who knew Nicholas was touched by his kindness and generosity – he wanted to make people happy. He made people laugh and we all know what a great person he was and will be forever missed.

Video tribute

“We urge anyone who has any information regarding his death, no matter how insignificant they may think it is, to please come forward and speak to the police.”

A video tribute was posted on YouTube, alongside a call for a new campaign against knife crime, which would urge the friends of people who carry a “tool” to “have a word” with them.

Charterhouse Street is one of Islington’s busiest nightlife strips, and the area around Farringdon station as a whole has the borough’s highest concentration of late-night venues.

Islington Council has sought to curb problems by bringing in the “Clerkenwell saturation zone”, which makes it much harder for new bars to open up. But Clerkenwell councillor George Allan told the Gazette: “I’m not surprised by this killing, although I am horrified. The saturation zone has been successful at stopping new bars, but it doesn’t deal with the existing issues. There’s a big problem with ‘pre-loading’ in the area and a case for curtailing some licensing hours.”

Cllr Paul Convery, Islington Council’s executive member for community safety, said: “We will do everything we can to stop knife crimes and will take action against any business that puts people at risk.”

n Anyone with information should call City of London Police on 020 7601 2222 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.