A man accused of murdering the cousin of television meteorologist Alex Beresford abandoned his trial

A man accused of murdering television meteorologist Alex Beresford's cousin had his case closed.

Lovel Bailey, 29, is believed to have stabbed Nathaniel Armstrong, also 29, in Fulham, West London, on Saturday, March 16th.

Mr. Bailey, of Bromwich Walk, Little Bromwich, Birmingham, was arrested at Gatwick Airport.

He was to be tried at Old Bailey in November, but at a hearing before Justice Wendy Joseph QC, the prosecution announced that she was not pursuing her trial.

Oliver Glasgow, QC stated that "the strength of the evidence" meant that there was no realistic prospect of conviction.

Mr. Bailey had already been released and Mr. Armstrong's family was informed, he said.

Judge Joseph made it clear that filing a case was not the same as a verdict of not guilty, adding: "The Crown says it does not even have a cause to present for the moment ".

The incident allegedly took place during a dispute between Mr. Armstrong and the defendant.

Beresford, 38, described his cousin as "a bright young man who has his whole future ahead of him".

The killing took place 11 days after the weather officer spoke about the knife crime at the ITV breakfast program, Good Morning Britain.

He spoke in a debate with a pbadionate plea about knife crime.

He stated that the prison was "not a deterrent" for the offenders.

Speaking on the show after the death of Mr. Armstrong, he added: "Nobody would be expected, especially after my speech. You could not invent it. .

"It's a big surprise that it happened to Nathaniel … he's 29, not in a gang, he's gone to a good school, to college."

Friends have described the pbadionate basketball player as a "big friendly giant" and a "super friendly".

In a statement, Beresford said earlier, "I am deeply saddened to confirm that my cousin Nathaniel lost his life on Friday night.

"We were all so shocked to hear this news yesterday and our thoughts are now with his mother, his brother and his sisters.

"Nathaniel was a brilliant young man who had before him all his life, and this tragedy is an example of more than a useless life lost for knife crime."

On March 5, at the Good Morning Britain conference, Beresford hit the headlines as he interrupted a debate to launch a pbadionate speech about the knife crime epidemic.

He shouted throughout the studio to ask for changes in the children's environment.

He fought back against John Apter, president of the Police Federation of England and Wales, who demanded that we build more prisons to serve as punishment.

Mr. Beresford shouted, "Prison does not work, it does not work.

"I grew up in some of the communities you are talking about.The prison is not a deterrent.Some of these boys do not fear jail time.

"If you do not change the environment, you will not change anything and it is essential.

"It's been happening for years, and it's not always in the media, it will not change, it will take a lot of things to get to the end result, yes, the police are one thing."

He continued "By the end of the day, if you do not change the environment of these boys.

"All of you on this side have benefited from the environment you grew up in. You benefited from this work environment and I benefited from it.

"But these boys, they do not all enjoy the enivirement.If we do not show them anything else, you will not change it, sorry."

Mr. Armstrong died shortly before 1 am on Gowan Avenue – the same street where TV presenter Jill Dando was murdered 20 years ago.

Mr. Beresford also opened a personal investigation into the outbreak and sought a solution to the problem in a documentary called In Tonight: Crime Knife And Me.

In heartbreaking scenes, he spoke to his cousin Nadine, who said their family had been torn apart by the murder of her brother.

Speaking around the corner where Nathaniel died, she told Alex: "I feel really devastated.I think Nathaniel is killed, it's as if some of my identity was gone." "

"The whole family feels torn apart."

When asked how her mom and dad were doing well, she said, "They are upset, words can not really describe it, to be honest.

"He was such a loving, caring, kind person and left … so you know."

Alex asked what she hoped to get out of this terrible situation.

"As a family, we want justice done," she said. "But honestly, I think we need to do more to prevent this."