Brother calls on killers to step forward after agency chef's apparent murder

The brother of a hard-working chef who died in the middle of the night last week has called for his alleged killers to step forward.

Lionel Simenya, an agency chef with Blue Arrow recruitment, died on the streets of Edinburgh at around 3:50am on 7 March, less that a week from his 37th birthday. Detectives, who are investigating the incident as a possible murder, have said he was mowed down by a Peugeot car which had been taken from a nearby garage on Fords Road, Gorgie.

Originally from Burundi, the chef had lived in the UK for several years. In September last year he won recognition from his agency for "always picking up extra shifts, always getting] great feedback from all our clients" and working "incredibly hard".

Speaking at a press conference in Edinburgh yesterday, his brother Nicolas Simenya said: "Lionel worked hard and never asked for help from anyone.

"Lionel was in his prime and would have been 37 yesterday (Wednesday) had he not been taken away from us.

"Yesterday we visited his body at the mortuary. He looked so peaceful. The same way he lived his life."