Man killed in brolly row

Police are today searching for the killer of a 19-year-old lifeguard, who was stabbed to death after a row over an umbrella.

Terry Gregory was murdered in front of his girlfriend and a friend after an argument at a bus stop, believed to have started when he touched an umbrella belonging to another passenger.

Mr Gregory, who was described by friends as "happy and loving", is understood to have got off the N1 bus in Woolwich Church Street at about 1.35am yesterday.

A row broke out in the road after a man who had just boarded the bus thought he saw the teenager touch the umbrella belonging to a female passenger. Mr Gregory's friend got off the bus and joined in the argument.

The confrontation was broken up by a group of men in a black BMW, who then drove off. The man got back on the bus, and Mr Gregory's girlfriend got off and began walking home with the two teenagers.

When they reached the Albion pub in the same road a short time later, the man reappeared. Mr Gregory's friend, also aged 19, approached him and was stabbed in the hand.

The man then stabbed Mr Gregory in the chest before running away. A post mortem yesterday gave the cause of his death as a knife wound to the heart.

Mr Gregory, who was a lifeguard at Eltham Leisure Centre, was described by neighbours in Woolwich as a happy and "loving" teenager who was keen on football. Bouquets have been left at the murder site, along with an England shirt from Mr Gregory's family.

Next- door neighbour Michael Adedipe, 35, said: "Terry was the best. He taught my five-year-old son football and played with him and other neighbours on the green all the time.

"He was always with his girlfriend or working."

The suspect is described as black, 5ft 5in, aged between 40 and 50, stocky, and balding with short grey or greying hair.

Police are appealing for witnesses and are particularly keen to hear from the men who intervened in the original row at the bus stop and anyone who saw Mr Gregory earlier in the evening at the Pullman pub in Woolwich.

They also want to hear from anyone who was on the N1 bus, especially a group of women who got on at the time of the dispute.