A BRITISH mother stabbed to death in front of her young children in Alhaurín el Grande has been named.
Victoria Hart, 33, was killed at her home on Calle Tomillo in the La Paca urbanisation on Saturday morning in a suspected case of domestic violence.
The alarm was raised at around 11.40am when neighbours heard the mother-of-three victim screaming for help.
One local resident reportedly entered the property and found the victim on the floor in a pool of blood with a knife lying nearby.
Her eldest child, an 11-year-old boy, ran outside to their garden to cry for assistance after his mum was attacked, reportedly calling his grandmother to say: “Dad has killed mum.”
Emergency services rushed to the scene but were unable to save Victoria after she suffered multiple stab wounds.
Her ex-husband, Juan Antonio Rueda, has been arrested after handing himself in to police and telling officers: “Arrest me, I’ve done something very bad.”
He reportedly told prison workers: “I lost my mind.”
It is understood that Juan had a restraining order intended to stop him from approaching the family home where his former wife and three children, including two twin daughters aged seven, lived.
Victoria is understood to have been registered on the VioGen monitoring system, created in 2004 as part of an attempt to counter gender violence.
Despite having active judicial protection measures, including a restraining order and a ban on communication, her risk level had been classified as ‘low’.
Friends claim the couple had been separated for months but the suspect had allegedly been harassing her, sending her a barrage of messages while she was out with friends before turning up at her house.
The hairdresser moved to southern Spain from the West Midlands and ran a business from home.
Her estranged husband, a former semi-professional footballer, is expected to appear in court today, although the hearing will take place behind closed doors.
A spokesperson for the Guardia Civil said: “The Guardia Civil is investigating the death of a woman in Alhaurín el Grande. Her ex-partner has been arrested as the alleged killer.”
In a statement, Alhaurín town council said: “The town council would like to convey our deepest condolences and support to the victim’s family and friends, as well as our absolute rejection and condemnation of this act of gender-based violence, a social scourge that seriously violates human rights and which we must eradicate with the involvement of the whole of society.”
Local mayor Anthony Bermudez declared Monday as an official day of mourning, with a minute’s silence to be held at 5pm to pay respects to Victoria.
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