Stab victim was 'friend to all'

Mark Dicken had worked at hotels across south Devon

Tributes have been paid to a 38-year-old former chef who was found stabbed to death in Newton Abbot last month.

Father-of-five Mark Dicken, of Highweek Road, Newton Abbot, was a "kind-hearted person who was a friend to everyone" said his father Rowland.

Mr Dicken, 65, said: "If he saw people in trouble he would always go out of his way to help them."

A 55-year-old man has been charged with Mr Dicken's murder in Broadlands Avenue on 25 September.

'Brilliant chef'

Mr Dicken said as a schoolboy in Bournemouth his son had been a great sportsman.

His parents moved to Newton Abbot in 1988 but Mark remained in Bournemouth for his final college year studying hotel management and catering before joining them.

He worked in hotels across south Devon before buying the Wheel Restaurant and Tea Rooms, Chudleigh, in the 1990s.

The family said: "He was a brilliant chef. He used to have regular clientele who would go there for his Sunday roast."

Mark had to quit work following a back injury but played pub games such as darts and pool and managed the Newton Abbot Pool League and Moorland League.

A 55-year-old man has been charged with murder after a man in his 30s died after being stabbed in Devon.

The victim died at a house in Broadlands Avenue, Newton Abbot, early on Thursday.

The arrested man was taken into custody by officers at an address in the same street.

He also faces an offence of causing criminal damage and is to appear before magistrates on Friday, Devon and Cornwall Police said.