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Friends and neighbours in Alhaurín el Grande, in the province of Málaga, are mourning Victoria Hart, the 33-year-old British hairdresser found stabbed to death at her home on Saturday morning. The mother of three, who ran a beauty salon from her house in the expat-friendly inland town near Málaga, was discovered with neck wounds next to a knife around 11.40am. Her 11-year-old son ran out to the communal garden for help and called his grandmother to say "his father had killed his mother", while her six-year-old twin daughters were also inside at the time.

 

Neighbours heard screams and alerted the Guardia Civil, who arrived to find Hart had already passed away. Her estranged husband, Juan Antonio Rueda, who owns a chicken rotisserie in the town of nearly 28,000 residents, handed himself in at Alhaurín de la Torre prison shortly after. He reportedly told staff "Arrest me, I’ve done something very bad" and "I lost my mind", noting the three children had been present.

 

Hart had lived in Spain since her teenage years with her mother and sister and worked as an independent hairdresser. She met Rueda in 2011, married him in 2017, but they separated several months ago. Locals said he had a restraining order barring him from approaching her, and she was registered on Spain's VioGen system for gender violence cases, though classified as low-risk. He had still maintained contact with the children.

 

The tragedy has shaken the close-knit expat community. "Victoria had the most pure heart, her ultimate goal was to ensure her children had the best life she could give them," said resident Anne Khraiche. Friend Jane Naughton wrote online, "Love should never hurt... What a wicked, evil thing to happen. We will all miss you terribly Victoria." Halo SpaSalon added, "A young mum and fellow hairdresser in the community, taken brutally... Robbed of her life and changing the lives of her children and family forever."

 

Alhaurín el Grande Ayuntamiento expressed its "deepest sorrow" and "absolute rejection and condemnation of this act of gender-based violence". Mayor Anthony Bermúdez declared Monday January 26 a day of mourning "as a sign of respect and solidarity". A Guardia Civil spokesman confirmed Rueda’s arrest as the alleged killer, with an investigation underway. Women's rights groups have called a protest in Málaga on Monday against domestic violence.

 

 

Images: Facebook