Friends Emeka Nyack Ihenacho and Gerry Lecointe

THE death of a long-serving postman has left a “huge hole” in Kentish Town – where he had worked on for 19 years.

Gerry Lecointe, who was 56, covered Gaisford Street, Caversham Road and Oseney Crescent on his daily round.

It is not certain yet how he died but those closest to him say they are shocked at the sudden­ness of the frontline worker’s death at home at a relatively young age ­– and fear that Covid may have at least been a contributory factor.

Pat Carey, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) rep at the Kentish Town depot and a close friend of Mr Lecointe, said: “Gerry was a passionate and loyal CWU member – any political and anti-racist campaigns, he was at the front of them.

“He was always collecting around the office. Always gathering money for people. He was a lovely man and a gentlemen. Myself and everyone at Kentish Town are devastated.”

A big Arsenal fan, he also loved American football – the San Francisco 49ers fan had taken this week off so he could watch the Super Bowl.

Mr Lecointe, whose family were originally from Jamaica, had been good friends with Emeka Nyack Ihenacho, a bus driver who lived in St Albans Road in Highgate who died from Covid last April.

His death then led to questions over how well – or poorly – public sector workers were being protected during the pandemic.

Mr Ihenacho, who they knew as “Meka”, had worked as a postman in the Kentish Town depot for many years with Mr Lecointe before switching careers.

Mr Carey said: “This has hit us really hard at Kentish Town because we have also lost Meka. They were both one of a kind, and really were two gentlemen. We don’t know if Gerry died of Covid, but we’ve all been working through the pandemic.

“People moan about not getting their post, but we are out every day on our feet, and there has been so much sickness among postal workers.”

Mr Lecointe was well known for joining anti-racist demonstrations and can be seen online in a clip from a Channel 4 report facing down the BNP in Tower Hamlets after the party got its first councillor elected to the local authority.

Gerry Lecointe facing down the BNP

He was a long-time member of the Socialist Workers Party at the Upper Holloway and Archway branch. Mr Lecointe did not have children but had been looking after his elderly mother.

Former Camden Unison convenors Barry Walden and Mandy Berger recalled meeting Mr Lecointe at a political meeting in at the Old Farm House pub on the corner of Holmes Road and Kentish Town Road.

Mr Walden said: “He was a knowledgeable and thoughtful revolutionary but also modest about his own contribution. A gentle and kind man. We’ll miss bumping into Gerry and having those little chats.”

Residents on his round this week said they were “choked” by news of his death.

One woman from Caversham Road told the New Journal: “If you asked him if he wanted anything, often he’d say he’d run out of grapes. He’d have a bag of them on his red trolley.”

Leslie Wilson-Rutterford, who lives in Gaisford Street and has a vintage clothes outlet in the Hampstead Emporium, recalled how he had tracked down a missing eBay delivery.

She said: “It was really kind of him because it was something I was really looking forward to getting. Postmen have become even more precious to us during the lockdown. For some of us, it’s the only face we see.

“To have him die in this time, when we have all come to appreciate these frontline people all the more, it becomes so much more important and memorable. It’s not only that we are still getting our post – they are providing a social service too.”

Neighbours are discussing on the Kentish Town Lives Facebook group whether to organise a plaque on a bench on Mr Lecointe’s route.