Train stab murder victim died ‘trying to protect son’ from Darren Pencille

The sister of tragic Lee Pomeroy has told of how the “gentle giant” died protecting his beloved 14-year-old son.

Kim said he confronted Darren Pencille on a London-bound train during an outing with his lad the day before his 52nd birthday because he was “brave” and “protective”.

Pencille, a cannabis addict with gang links, stabbed Lee 18 times in 25 seconds in a frenzied and horrific attack after a row escalated.

The fiend bleated about having acted in self-­defence but was this week convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum 28 years.

Kim said: “Lee was brave and that is why he is not here any more.

“He was very protective of people, especially women and children. He was the sort of man that made the world a better place.”

Lee died on January 4 after the brutal attack on the train, which they boarded near their home in Guildford, Surrey.

Lee was born in Bow, East London, and grew up in the capital. But Kim, 51, of Loughton, Essex, said he and wife Svetlana, 51, had set up home in Surrey to escape the city’s crime.

She said: “He liked the area, they had nice schools there. They wanted their son to go to a nice school. They didn’t want him to be brought up in London, because of the crime.”

The row with Pencille was ­triggered by Lee wanting to put his bag in the carriage’s overhead rack.

The IT consultant only responded to the goading brute, 36, when he thought he was a threat to his boy. 

Lee’s son has told his family he was too scared to look at the man shouting and swearing at his dad.

Kim, a medical PA, said Lee did not like confrontation but would stand up to bullies and had been threatened by Pencille.

She said: “His family came first, especially his son. 

“He (Pencille) carried on, insulting and threatening my brother. He was aggressive and looking to cause trouble over a very minor incident.

“Then he threatened Lee. He said, ‘It won’t end nicely’.

“After enduring this for some time, he stood up and he did clench his fist. But he did that because he saw this aggressive screaming man as a threat to his son. He stood up because he wanted to get him away from his son, who was scared.”

Fortunately, Lee’s son did not ­witness the savage attack – which was caught on CCTV – as he had moved to the next carriage. But he tended to his father as he lay dying moments later. Revealing her brother’s last moments, Kim said: “My nephew saw the other people come out of that carriage. 

“He thought, ‘I better go and see where Daddy is’. As he got there he has seen blood. My brother was sat in a chair, breathing heavily. His son said, ‘Daddy what happened?’ And he said, ‘He punched me.’”

Struggling to hold back tears, Kim said: “But he wasn’t looking at his son, he was ­losing his focus. I just know he was dying.”

In a moving tribute, Kim said of her 6ft 2in brother: “He was a gentle giant. But he was very ­embarrassed about his height. He used to walk with a bit of a stoop.”

Pencille’s girlfriend, Chelsea Mitchell, picked up the killer after he fled the train. She got 28 months for ­assisting an offender.

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