Funeral held for Haswell dad-of-two Royce Mallett who was stabbed in Australia motel car park attack

A funeral has been held this for a County Durham dad-of-two who was stabbed in a "random" attack in Australia.

Royce Mallett travelled to New South Wales last March to lay asphalt after struggling to find work at home.

At around 6pm on Monday 8 July, the 30-year-old was stabbed while in a car in a motel car park in Albury.

A man was arrested and reportedly charged with murder by local police.

On Thursday (22 August) mourners turned out in orange to pay their last respects to Mr Mallett.

A procession, led by a hearse carrying his coffin, included dirt bike riders alongside his family and friends.

Before his death, Mr Mallett had been due to return home for his son's second birthday.

His mother, Felicity Mallett, previously told ITV Tyne Tees that the fatal attack on her son was "random".

Speaking last month, she said:"It seems like a dream to us at the moment. It’s like watching a film and finding the person died or got killed at the end of the film.

"It’s not sunk into our head that he’s actually physically gone because we haven’t seen him since March."

Ms Mallett said both his children, his five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son, are missing him.

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