Charity worker grandad killed by muggers

79-YEAR-OLD'S FAMILY LEFT HEARTBROKEN AFTER TWO MEN JUMPED HIM AS HE LEFT HIS HOME IN THE GAMBIA

- By ANDERS ANGLESEY, PAUL BRITTON

A CHARITY worker from Oldham has been killed in Africa after a reported mugging by two men who tried to steal his mobile phone.

Jeff Cantwell, 79, has lived in Brusubi, on the western coast of The Gambia, since 2012.

He left his compound between 7pm and 8pm on Sunday to meet friends at a restaurant for dinner when two men jumped him, his grieving family have said.

His friends thought something was wrong when he didn’t arrive and wasn’t answering his phone.

They went to his house and found him injured, but still alive.

He died after arriving at a hospital, his family said.

Mr Cantwell’s family, based in Hollinwood, Oldham, were told of his death through one of his friends.

He had been working with a variety of charities on different projects, including finding sponsorship for school uniforms and arranging medical supplies for hospitals in remote areas.

He had only just returned to The Gambia at the beginning of October from a six-month trip to the UK to see his family.