A 13-year-old boy who has been stabbed to death in Portugal was born in Brighton, according to the Daily Mail.
Alfie Hallett, who was brought up in Bognor, lost his life trying to protect his mother from her Portuguese ex-boyfriend, his grandmother told the Mail.
The Mail website quoted Linda Hallett as saying that Alfie was a “lovely, gentle boy with a heart of gold”.
He was murdered on Tuesday (23 December) in his family’s home, in Casais, near the city of Tomar, about 80 miles north of the Portuguese capital Lisbon.
The man suspected of stabbing Alfie was named locally as Goncalo Carvalho. He is alleged to have tied up and beaten Alfie’s mother.
The Mail said that Carvalho died in a gas blast at his home as police prepared to arrest him. He was said to have been jailed previously for stabbing a man 35 times.
According to the Mail, Alfie’s mother and father, Mark Hallett, separated when he was about four years old.
The publisher quoted Mrs Hallett as saying: “She didn’t tell Mark she was leaving and didn’t tell him where she was.”
A few years later, when he found out, he flew to Portugal and obtained legal permission to bring Alfie home for Christmas.
Mrs Hallett said that it was the last time the family had been able to get together.
