Further heartbreaking details have emerged about British child Alfie Hallett, 13, stabbed to death by his mother’s ‘ex’ who then went on to ‘commit suicide’ by provoking a gas explosion at a property in Casais, Tomar, two days before Christmas.
Alfie appears to have been fatally injured trying to protect his mother from her crazed attacker, a convicted murderer by the name of Gonçalo Carvalho.
Grandmother Linda has given the Daily Mail background details on how her grandson came to be living in Portugal – and these too are ‘tragic’.
It appears that his parents split up very early – and Alfie was taken to live by his mother in Portugal (with a then Portuguese boyfriend) without his father knowing where he was.
When his father finally caught up with him, and applied through the courts for access, Alfie went to spend Christmas with his father’s family, which is the last time grandmother Linda saw him.
He was, she says, “such a lovely, gentle boy with a heart of gold”.
The Daily Mail story also suggests it was Alfie who “bravely filed” complaints with the police (in 2022 and 2023) for the domestic violence suffered by his mother at the hands of Gonçalo Carvalho – a man convicted of stabbing someone dead in a park (no less than 37 times) and who ended up serving only 14 years (of a ‘maximum 25 year term’) due to ‘good behaviour’.
Adding to the difficulties Alfie appears to have faced is the fact that his own father – who had a history of heart problems – died of sepsis last year.
In Portugal, little more of this terrible story has appeared since Alfie’s death. A touching tribute was given by the basketball section of the local sports club, SCOCS (standing for Sport Club Operário Cem Soldos) which wrote over social media: “It is with deep sorrow and dismay that we received the news of the brutal death of a 13-year-old athlete from SCOCS Under-14 Basketball, victim of an absolutely incomprehensible act of violence.
“At this time of immense sadness, we extend our deepest condolences to his family, friends, and all those who had the privilege of knowing him. The loss of such a young life leaves a void that cannot be filled.
“The athletes, coaches, parents, managers and community of Cem Soldos are in mourning, united in grief and in memory of a young man who will always be part of our sporting family. May his memory live on in our hearts”.
The worst of this story is that the local community, and the local GNR police, knew of the dangers of Gonçalo Carvalho, yet somehow this knowledge was not enough to prevent a tragedy. As one local admitted to reporters afterwards: “’The only thing we thought was ‘one of these days something is going to happen’ because (Carvalho) was not a good guy.”
Sources: Daily Mail/ Correio da Manhã/ Facebook
