One of the last people to see a grandfather who was stabbed to death in Notting Hill alive has claimed he was ‘executed’.

Music promoter Tony Charlery was brutally stabbed in the throat in Portobello Road just before midnight on Friday (August 29) after popping into the popular Mau Mau bar for a chat with a friend.

The 59-year-old was knifed in the throat and was left to bleed to death in the street.

A witness, who wished to remain anonymous, said he saw Mr Charlery have his last conversation before he was attacked.

He said: “Tony walked into the bar, he was here for seconds, said ‘hello’ to his mate and left - four minutes later he was knifed.

“It was Carnival last weekend so Friday was a really quiet night. There were hardly any people around in the street.

“The bar had just closed at 11.45pm and the lights were on. One of the doormen was outside and said ‘someone’s just been stabbed’.

“He saw a guy acting funny in the street so he went up to check on him. He asked him if he was alright.

“When he got there he had his hands around his neck, there was blood spraying out of his fingers and he couldn’t talk. He was a dead man.

“Apparently these two guys, just wearing normal clothes, not all black or in hoods or anything, walked right behind him and got him around the neck.

“They stuck the knife right in. They were executing him. It would have been a serious wound. Then they just walked off.

“They knew who they were after. He was a target.”

The witness said how Notting Hill is ‘a fancy area’ where people have serious money and fancy houses but also mentioned how a 24-year-old was hospitalised after being stabbed outside a Tesco, 100 metres from Mau Mau bar earlier this summer.

“There’s Ladbroke Grove the next street up where there’s always been gangs,” he said.

“Ten years ago things were bad - there were protection rackets for the shops and bars and a lot of violence.

“Things had got a lot better, but recently it’s happening more and more frequently. These guys will fight anywhere and they try to kill each other.”

Police are searching for two local men in connection with the attack on Mr Charlery.

Anyone with information should call police on 020 8785 8063 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.