THE aunt of the young man who was stabbed and left to bleed to death on the Rayners Lane estate has spoken of her family's agony since their "shining star was extinguished".

Patrick Fitzharris, 21, was found face-down in a pool of blood on a lawn in Austen Road at 1am on April 3 by police responding to reports of disturbance. He had been stabbed many times, one wound piercing his heart.

Barbara Hamza, who on Friday travelled from her home in Liverpool to lay flowers at the spot, said the entire family was still trying to come to terms with the brutal way he died. And she revealed that the killing had happened as his parents were travelling between the funerals of two other young family members.

Speaking through tears, she said: "We are really and truly going through Hell. We just cannot come to terms with the fact that Patrick has been taken from us in such a brutal way. He was our shining star.

"His cousin was calling his mobile phone, obviously not knowing what had happened. A police officer answered and said the phone had been lying next to a body.

"Can you imagine the shock that poor boy got? The most difficult thing to accept is that he was murdered, stabbed right through the heart, and then left to die in the street like an animal."

The day before Patrick died, his parents were in Liverpool attending the funeral of his first cousin. After the service, they went to Ireland to attend another funeral of a young relative the following day.

They were at the second funeral when they received a phone call from the police to say that Patrick had been involved in an "accident" and was critically ill in hospital.

"They couldn't tell his mother that he was already dead because she has heart problems," said Mrs Hamza.

"It was Grand National weekend and they had an absolute nightmare getting back, and when they did they found out that Patrick had been murdered.

"I can't even look at my sister now, her grief is unbearable to watch. She's heartbroken, absolutely heartbroken. Patrick had so much to live for. He had just got engaged to his girlfriend and was about to announce it to the whole family."

Mrs Hamza described Patrick, who lived in evesha, Worcestershire, as a joker with a heart of gol who was always thinking of others.

"Everything has stopped for us all now, his parents, his two sisters and his two brothers are numb with grief," she said. "There will be no Christmases, birthdays or holidays for us. How can we ever celebrate again now that our precious boy has been snatched from us?"

She added: "I am begging anyone who knows anything about who was responsible for this terrible crime to come forward. Until someone is charged, we can't even bury our beloved Patrick because the police won't release his body. Please, please help us."

Anyone with information should contact DCI Petrina Cribb on 020 7321 6849.