THE brother of a shopkeeper who died two weeks after being stabbed in his grocery store has described the moment that his family realised he would not survive the attack.

Javaid Ali, 48, was attacked in Sunshine Grocers in Green Road, Paisley, Renfrewshire, on June 15. The married father-of-three was taken to the town's Royal Alexandra Hospital, where he had emergency surgery. He died there on Friday.

His younger brother Sha was reported as saying yesterday: "The surgeon operated on my brother on the Friday evening after he was attacked. They took him to intensive care and said the next 48 hours would be critical. But the consultant came to us the following Tuesday and said basically there was no hope. There was no brain activity.

"We prayed for Javaid over the next few days. But nothing could done."

Police have said it was a "mindless" attack and they are treating the death as murder. They are looking at leads gathered during a stop-and-interview operation a week after the attack, when more than 160 people provided information to police.

Mr Ali appealed for witnesses to come forward, adding: "My brother was a gentleman. If someone did not have the money, he would say, 'It's okay, just take your bread or milk and give me the money tomorrow.' No-one deserves to be attacked the way he was."