A “tragically unlucky” cab driver was fatally stabbed in Tottenham by a group of teenage robbers, a court has heard.

Gabriel Bringye, 37, went to pick up a fare in the area on February 17, but instead he was allegedly confronted by youths who fatally stabbed him.

Five defendants, aged between 16 and 18, have gone on trial at the Old Bailey over the killing.

Prosecutor Philip Evans QC said the case is related to a series of robberies in January and February leading up to the death of Mr Bringye.

Mr Evans told jurors: “Gabriel Bringye was doing no more than earning a living, working as a private hire cab driver.

“He was working for the company Bolt which operates much like Uber.

“Mr Bringye received a notification of a booking and made his way to collect passengers from a pick-up point in the Tottenham area.

“When he arrived, he was met not by a fare but by this group of defendants who, instead of wanting a taxi, were in fact intent on robbing him of his car and other possessions.

“So intent were they on robbery, that Mr Bringye was stabbed and the injury that he received was so severe that he died of that injury minutes later at the scene where the robbery took place.”

The killing was not “by chance” but a consequence of a plan to rob a taxi driver, it was claimed.

“Mr Bingye was tragically unlucky that it was him who received the booking that day.

“The robbery on February 17 was the fatal culmination of a campaign of similar robberies, which had been ongoing around London over several weeks,” Mr Evans said.

Earlier that day, the defendants allegedly went to Hendon in north London where they stole a mobile phone.

They then used it to order a cab to return to Tottenham and then to summon the victim, it was claimed.

David Adeyanju, 18, of Golders Green, north London, and four boys aged 16 and 17, have denied murder and manslaughter.

The Old Bailey trial continues.