Man murdered mother of his children on school run

Acash-strapped father apologised to his daughter before stabbing her mother to death following a row about paying child support.

Mark Morris, 39, lay in wait and attacked Emma Day in the street as she walked home from collecting her two children from school on May 25.

The couple had split up last year and were in dispute over child support, with Morris begging to be let off because he risked becoming homeless, police said.

He had researched ways to commit suicide on websites and said goodbye to his colleagues and told his daughter she would not see him again, the Old Bailey was told.

He armed himself with a kitchen knife and waited outside the school gates as 33-year-old Miss Day, accompanied by a friend, went to pick up her children in West Norwood, south London.

Prosecutor Sarah Whitehouse QC said: “On the day itself he was in the area where the victim was and she was concerned and indeed, asked a friend to accompany her to school to collect the children.

“Mr Morris was there at school as Miss Day walked past him. And then he walked into a local shop and bought a can of beer.”

Morris appeared again looking “drunk and dirty” as hospital worker Miss Day walked on with her friend and the children.

Mrs Whitehouse told the court: “He then said to his daughter, ‘I’m really sorry’. The children were sent on home and there was an argument for about 25 minutes.”

Miss Day and her friend decided to walk off because the discussion was “going nowhere”, prompting Morris to stab her in the heart, the court heard.

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC adjourned the case until next Thursday but warned Morris he faced a life sentence.

Detective Inspector John Massey, of Scotland Yard, said: “This was a brutal attack.”