Pray for me

Chilling text of knifeman found on the Channel after murdering ex's teenage son

- ANDREW BARDSLEY

FLOATING in the middle of the English Channel, Suleman Altaf must have soon realised that he'd not thought through his escape plan very well.

Marooned on a dinghy in choppy water, he was well out of his depth, in both senses of the phrase.

RNLI crews were dispatched to save him from the tiny boat he had chosen, before it could capsize and drown him.

Given the current controversy surrounding 'small boats, and the government's crackdown on migrants attempting to make their way to the UK from France, the lifeguards who went to his aid could have been forgiven for assuming Altaf was making the same journey.

But he was travelling in the other direction. The trail of destruction he'd left in his wake explained just how desperate he was to flee his adopted home country.

Because just hours earlier, 250 miles away, Altaf had tried to kill his estranged ex girlfriend, and murdered her 15-year-old son.

Jakub Szymanski had heroically stepped in when Altaf barged his way into the Miles Platting home where the teen lived with his mother, Katarzyna Bastek.

Armed with a knife, and with murderous intent, Altaf killed Jakub and almost finished off 40-year-old Katarzyna. Chilling CCTV footage showed Altaf flee from the scene, his face covered in blood.

Almost 24 hours later, Altaf had made his way south, hoping to avoid the repercussions. During a messy custody battle over the child they shared, Altaf had fought in the courts to gain access to his son.

But after his case was thrown out, Altaf decided to take the law into his own hands, in the most horrific way imaginable. He had once been part of the family, which had gone through its struggles but had much to look forward to.

Altaf originally arrived in the UK in 2008 on a student visa from Pakistan having studied psychology at university in Islamabad.