PRINCE Charles and Moira Jones’ mother were among the hundreds of people from around the world to share their sympathy with Asad Shah’s family following his death.
The royal sent relatives a personal letter from Clarence House just a week after Asad was brutally stabbed to death outside his shop in Shawlands, expressing his “shock and sadness” over the murder.
The Prince of Wales passed on his condolences on behalf of himself and his wife Camilla but admitted: “I fear that this letter is hopelessly inadequate under such appalling circumstances”.
The missive read: “It was with the greatest shock and sadness that my wife and I learned of the horrific assault upon Asad and his subsequent death.
“I cannot even begin to imagine the utterly heartbreaking anguish of your loss, but above all, I wanted you to know how deeply I feel for you all. I can only pray that there may be some very small comfort in the fact that Asad was so clearly held in the highest possible regard by the local community.”
Along with the letter from Clarence House, people from all over the world wrote to the Shah family, and locals say there is now a “void” left in the community.
Cards came from Japan, America and Australia as well as from across the UK sending messages of sympathy and grief.
South Side residents flooded the area with flowers and cards, and held a vigil at the shop previously owned by the Shah family on Minard Road.
Local woman Christine McKenzie was one of those who paid tribute to Asad and said his absence has left “as massive void” in the community.
The 60-year-old lives just a stones-throw from the newsagent on Minard Road, and said: “I’ve never met such a caring, kind man. I don’t know if people saw that as a weakness. He was the nicest person. I can’t even describe him.
“I’ll never meet anybody like him, I’m sure of that. I would come in to the shop every day, he would ask me how I was and how my family were.
“Every night when I came from work, he would move his car so I could park right outside my house and not have to walk back in the dark. That’s just a simple thing but it meant a lot.
“He bought birthday cakes for kiddies, he did so much for people.
“The area isn’t the same. Every single day I think about him. His death has left such a void and everyone always talks about him.”
Fellow Shawlands resident Alex Craig also has fond memories of the 40-year-old.
Alex, 28, used to deliver papers from Shah’s newsagent as a teenager and continued to keep in touch with Asad and his family as an adult
She said: “I think Asad really helped mould me in to the person I am, he opened my eyes quite a bit.
“There were always wee kids coming in to the shop and he would give them a sweetie.
“As long as I live I don’t think I’ll ever meet anybody like him again. “
Alex explained one time she had been violently attacked and managed to get to Asad’s shop, where he helped her and contacted her parents.
She explained: “His smile was contagious and he was just a big calming personality.
“A lot of people miss him. Things are just never going to be the same. I struggle going down that street now.
“Asad just loved to be around the community and that’s it.”
Local man Jim Gemmel, whose children had paper delivery jobs from Asad’s shop, added: “He was respectful and instilled a work ethic in how he treated them.
“He encouraged them to do well at school and was always interested in how they were doing.
“You left his shop a happier person than when you went in.”
Many other locals spoke to the Evening Times to share their thoughts on the shopkeeper, who died almost 12 months ago after being brutally attacked in Shawlands.
They all described him as a friendly, loving person who was humble and generous with what he had.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel