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The family of a man who was brutally murdered after he refused to get involved with a gang war have spoken of their “permanent” loss as his killer was jailed for life.

Abdus “Kamal” Samad’s killer, Foyjur Rahman, was finally brought to justice after 19 years on Friday.

Father-of-two Mr Samad, who was 25, suffered horrific injuries after being attacked with a machete, meat cleaver and baseball bat in Canonbury in May 1997. A surgeon described the injuries as the worst he had ever seen.

As Mr Samad ran from his attackers into Alwyne Villas he shouted to passers-by: “They want to kill me. Be careful.”

After the sentencing at the Old Bailey, his younger sister, Halima Begum, told the Tribune: “Moments before my brother received further fatal blows, a witness came between them and Kamal shouted for her to stand away, get back inside the house and call the police. He was already fatally injured by then but he was honour­able enough to protect this bystander and others.

“It gives us comfort and solace to know that others saw him as we know him – the most honourable among us. We loved him very much and will always love him. As we always said, he was never going to walk alone.”

Mr Samad was co-owner of Curry in a Hurry takeaway in St Paul’s Road, Highbury. He was killed after refusing to act as an intermediary, despite threats of violence, in a feud between a Putney takeaway and a group in Stoke Newington.

He was ambushed after responding to a bogus takeaway order to a house in Alwyne Road. Mr Samad suffered 18 wounds and died in the Whittington Hospital in the early hours of Thursday, May 22.

Rahman fled the country two days after the attack, flying to the US. He was extradited in January this year.

Dr Begum, who works in education development in east-Asian countries for the British Council, said she and Mr Samad’s two daughters, Tahmin, 22, and Tasmin, 19, still have nightmares about his death.

“Both daughters remain unable to understand why their father was killed, and they continue to ask the simple question: ‘Why?’” Dr Begum added.

Tahmin works for Oxfam having graduated from Queen Mary University last year and Tasmin is studying bio-chemistry at the same university. Dr Begum said both daughters had been driven in their lives to make their father proud.

In March 2012, Mohiuddin Bablu, then 38, of no fixed address, was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of Mr Samad with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 18 years. He had fled to Birmingham and then Bangladesh after the murder but was eventually brought back to face trial.

Further enquiries and forensic work was carried out following Bablu’s trial. DNA found on a makeshift mask discarded at the scene proved a match for Rahman’s. His fingerprints were also found on a bag used to bring weapons to the location.

Dr Begum praised police and prosecutors for bringing Mr Samad’s killers to justice.

“It makes us believe in our legal system, and makes us believe, as a family from the old East End of London, that justice isn’t something that is readily made available just to the privileged few,” she said.

Rahman will serve at least 18 years behind bars following a two-week trial.

Investigating officer Detective Sergeant Nick Miller, who has worked on the case for more than 10 years, said: “It has taken many years but I am very pleased that a jury convicted Rahman for his part in this violent murder.

“Mr Samad’s family have never given up hope of seeing those who killed a loving husband and father brought before the courts and I can only praise their dignity during this long process.”