A frail man suffering from myalgic encephalopathy (ME) died after being punched in a supermarket by a stranger who had mistakenly identified him as a queue-jumper.

Kevin Tripp, 57, was hit with such ferocity at a Sainsbury’s store in South London that he collapsed unconscious to the floor and died in hospital.

Police said yesterday that Mr Tripp, who was 6ft but weighed only 9st after struggling with ME for 20 years, had been an innocent bystander.

It is alleged that a woman abused by a youth during the queue-jumping incident had telephoned her partner, who then went to the store, but mistakenly assaulted Mr Tripp. He hit his head as he fell.

Tony Virasami, 37, from Catford, appeared before Wimbledon magistrates yesterday, charged with murder. He remanded in custody before trial at the Old Bailey in September. Last night Mr Virasami’s partner, Antoinette Richardson, also 37 and from Catford, was charged with murder. She is due to appear in court this morning.

After the alleged assault Mr Tripp was taken to St George’s Hospital, Tooting, where he was briefly resuscitated, but he lapsed into a coma and died on Wednesday night.

Mr Tripp, an engineer lived with his partner, Josephine James, and their daughter, Rianna, 5, in Colliers Wood. The family was too distraught yesterday to speak about his death.

Detective Inspector Bob Campany said: “This was a violent unprovoked attack on an innocent man. We would like any witnesses to come forward.”

Mr Tripp had overcome polio as a boy, but in 1988 he began to show the symptoms of ME, including fatigue and bouts of flu-like symptoms.

He was made redundant in 1990 from his job as a building surveyor, and found it increasingly difficult to get work as his condition deteriorated.

In a message to other ME sufferers on the support website Kickback, he wrote of his condition: “I get a few days here and there when I feel human and have energy. My muscles feel like they are borrowed from someone else, they are stiff and achy, and feel poisoned.” He said that he had to use all of his mental powers merely to stand still, but added: “I, like many other ME sufferers, do have hope that one day we will find the answers. Don’t give up.”

Breda McDonagh, the mother of the local MP, Siobhain McDonagh, and a neighbour of Mr Tripp and his family, said: “Everything about him was nice and his little girl is adored. It doesn’t bear thinking about.”

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, said: “He wasn’t robust. He was quiet and he was pleasant, but he wasn’t a chatterbox. They were both quiet. We’re just devastated by the news.”

One couple, who shop at the store regularly, were told by staff that a teenager had been causing trouble. The woman said: “A woman phoned her boyfriend. He didn’t bother to find out who had been causing trouble, he just hit the first person he saw.”

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