The circumstances surrounding the death of Darren Augustine, 44, in west London remain unclear, an inquest heard. Was it murder, or self defence?
At 5.15am on 23 April 2023 police were called to a house in Brentwick Gardens, Brentford, in the west London borough of Hounslow.
When officers from the Metropolitan Police arrived – along with paramedics from the London Ambulance Service – they found a man lying on the ground with stab wounds to his chest and abdomen. He died at the scene, a winding residential road near Gunnersbury Park.
The dead man’s name was Darren John Augustine, a 44-year-old father-of-two whose home address at that time was more than nine miles away in Tolworth, within the London borough of Kingston-upon-Thames. However he was known to have links to west London and had been born within the borough of Hammersmith in Fulham on 8 September 1978.
So what had happened?
Initial police statements revealed that officers had been called to reports of “intruders” at the house. After Darren died at the scene, ten people were arrested on suspicion of murder. However all ten of them – seven men and three women, ranging in age between teens and 60s – were later released with no further action. An eleventh ‘suspect’, a 28-year-old man, was arrested on 1 May, also on suspicion of murder.
The identity of the victim was only released publicly on 5 May 2023, when police issued a photo and a statement from Darren’s family.
Darren was a family man, he leaves behind his family including two children, he did not have a bad bone in his body.
Family statement:
A week later, on 11 May, a report was published by The Sun about the case. It led on the claim that, after the stabbing, Darren had been filmed by someone as he lay dying on the ground next to a car. This footage was then allegedly posted on the social media app Snapchat. The Sun claimed that the person who filmed and posted it on their Snapchat account was “a suspected murderer”, and alleged that Darren had gone to the house in Brentford over a “personal dispute” and suggested the address was known by local residents as a “drug den”.
The Metropolitan Police did not publicly comment on these claims but in a further appeal for information in June 2023 stated that detectives believed Darren was stabbed during an attempted burglary. Officers also appealed for help tracing another man who was with Darren when they tried to enter the house and said that “CCTV analysis has confirmed this man was with Darren and attended the flat in Brentwick Gardens.”
There was a further police appeal on 1 May 2024, which included the offer of a £20,000 reward for information leading to the prosecution of those responsible for Darren’s death.
The murder still remains unsolved and in 2025 police agreed that the local coroner could hold an inquest into Darren’s death. While the case is still officially ‘open’, the holding of the inquest in August 2025 effectively means that police are unlikely to make further progress unless they receive new information.
Unfortunately it appears the inquest on 7 August was not attended by any journalists and the coroner has not yet responded to media requests for the police report into Darren’s death (or the opportunity to listen to the recording of the hearing) under The Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013.
However West London Coroner’s Court has released the record of inquest, which reveals that police were unable to establish the circumstances surrounding Darren’s death. The lack of certainty meant that the assistant coroner, Richard Furniss, recorded an open conclusion (previously known as an open verdict).
This means that there was not enough evidence to return any other conclusion, including ‘unlawful killing’ (e.g. murder), lawful killing (e.g. self defence), accidental death, or misadventure (a deliberate act which unexpectedly ‘goes wrong’ in some way).
The brief inquest record also reveals that Darren was with two other men, and may have been armed with a weapon, when he went to Brentford that day.
The Deceased entered a property at Brentwick Gardens with two other men. All may have been armed. A fracas developed and the Deceased received stab wounds to his chest and abdomen which caused his death. The precise circumstances are unclear and have not been elucidated by the police investigation, which has not shown who stabbed
Summary recorded by the coroner at the conclusion of the inquest
the Deceased or whether it may have been in self-defence (ie, lawful). In these circumstances, the only proper conclusion is an open conclusion.
It is likely that the police report (or the evidence given by the investigating officer at the inquest) would shed more light on what the police believe may have happened, the evidence they gathered, why the investigation has not been able to establish who killed Darren, and what if any information was provided by the eleven people who were arrested.
Information can still be provided to police via their website, Twitter account or by calling 101. If you wish to remain anonymous you can contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.