The teenager from Afghanistan who was killed in a fatal stabbing near Teddington last week was studying engineering because he wanted to help 'rebuild' his home country, his brother has said.

Victim Hazrat Wali, aged 18, was studying construction and building at Richmond College after arriving in the UK in 2017 as an unaccompanied asylum seeker.

The teenage refugee was stabbed to death last week on playing fields in Twickenham.

A 16 year old boy, who cannot be named, has appeared in court in Wimbledon charged with murder.

Hazrat's brother, Mohammed Ashuk, has told The Times newspaper that his brother's difficult upbringing in Afghanistan led him to pursue a career which would enable him to 'serve the wider country.'

Mr Ashuk, who has lived in the UK for more than 20 years, said: "Hazrat was one of the best brothers. He was more of a friend than a brother.

"He was a very calm person, he would always smile. You would see a smile on his face every single day, every moment.

"You would ask him a question, and rather than replying to the question he would smile first, no matter what the question was. So he was known as the 'smiling guy.'"

Ashuk explained how Hazrat had fled Afghanistan with his twin brother at age 12 in search of a better life.

Their father had died before they were born and their mother died when the boys were two years old. They grew up in the care of their aunt.

"We couldn't tell Hazrat that she wasn't his real mother," Ashuk said. "If we'd told Hazrat, he wouldn't have survived because he's been through a lot. So we didn't have the courage to tell Hazrat."

The twins became separated on the long journey to Europe. "Imagine having a twin brother and you lose him on the way? You can't imagine the pain and suffering," Ashuk said.

Hazrat was given asylum in Vienna, where he lived with a foster family for a year and a half. He later heard his brother had been deported back to Afghanistan.

Hazrat's arrival in the UK made him "really happy", his brother said.

He moved to Britain under the European Union's Dublin Convention. He was resettled in west London and lived with his foster mother Fatima in Notting Hill.

Ashuk, his wife and two children aged 10 and 5 live nearby in Earls Court, where Hazrat was a frequent visitor to the family.

"My children, my wife can't stop crying — they've lost an uncle who they loved," he said.

"Every day there would be a knock on the door. Hazrat comes in with open arms and a big smile. My kids would tell me he's more of a friend to us than you."

"He had a very happy life here in the UK. He was planning his future. He was planning to be a person who can serve community in a wider community.

"He even planned to build a country, to go back home, he wanted to help rebuild Afghanistan."