A murder investigation has been launched after a celebrities’ bodyguard was fatally stabbed as he and his father confronted a gang of moped thieves.
Ricky Hayden, 27, and his father Paul, 54, suffered machete wounds in the attack outside their home in Chadwell Heath, east London.
Ricky, who had worked with high profile clients including Peter Crouch, Abbey Clancy, Kerry Katona and David Jason, and as a security guard for ITV’s This Morning, was taken to hospital but died in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
His father remains in hospital, though his injuries are said to be not life threatening.
Scotland Yard detectives said the pair saw a group of up to four men attempting to steal a moped after hearing a disturbance outside their home in Gibbfield Close at around 1.35am on Tuesday.
After the men were stabbed, the thieves fled the scene without the moped, believed to belong to Ricky’s younger brother Perry. The family dog was also slashed in the attack.
Neighbour Daniel Carter told the Evening Standard: “I came downstairs and opened the door and there were three lads trying to pick up a moped.
“I could hear someone shouting ‘help him, help him.’ Then that was it, he was lying on the floor, with blood everywhere.”
A source told The Mirror Paul will require plastic surgery after suffering an injury to his arm. He added he had been told by police that the Ricky’s injuries were so severe his leg had been amputated.
Two men were arrested in the early hours of this morning on suspicion of murder. Both remain in custody at an east London police station.
Detectives from the Metropolitan Police’s Homicide and Major Crime Command appealed for anyone who may have seen or heard anything to come forward.
Any witnesses or anyone with any information is asked to call police via 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.