Son link in fatal park stabbing

Mr Shafiq was a father-of-five

Police are investigating whether the fatal stabbing of a man in a park in Lancashire was related to an alleged attack on his son five months ago.

Mohammed Raja Shafiq, 50, was hit on the head and stabbed as he tried to stop trouble at Thompson Park in Burnley on Tuesday.

About 10 people were involved but up to 50 others watched, police said.

A lake is being drained in a search for the weapon. Five men are being held in connection with the incident.

Lancashire police said the attack was not racially motivated.

Mr Shafiq, from York Street, Nelson, was described as a "family man". He died a few hours after the attack in the Royal Blackburn Hospital.

Mr Shafiq was hit on the head with an iron bar and stabbed

Mr Shafiq, a father-of-five, was hit on the head with an iron bar and stabbed in the abdomen, police said.

The victim's son is believed to have attended Burnley College, which backs on to the landscaped park.

A pupil from Burnley College said he thought the victim's son had got involved in an argument and that his father had intervened.

Police have cordoned off a grassy, flat bank next to the boating lake and forensic teams are at the scene.

Family friend Shokat Malik, 42, from Burnley, said Mr Shafiq was a "happy soul, a happy character" who "got on with everybody."

"He was a well integrated member of society and the community," he added.

'Sad loss'

"He was a devoted family man and general good guy. It's a sad loss to the family.

"His son had phoned his father and said there was a gang of youths bullying him so his father rang the police and then made his own way over there as well."

Det Supt Mick Gradwell, leading the inquiry, told the BBC that Mr Shafiq's family had been left devastated by his death.

"... There are a lot of witnesses who have seen what's happened to Mr Shafiq," he said.

"Anybody who is aware of what happened before, during or after, I really want to hear from, and urge them to come forward."