Alexander Mackay meets hero Dave Reynolds for first time

by Jamie Bullen

A dad left close to death after he was stabbed by a jealous love
rival has met the man who wrestled his crazed attacker to the
ground.

Alexander Mackay, 66, pleaded for his life as he was knifed
repeatedly by Ralph Latchana in the frenzied early-morning assault
in Wincheap.

But dad-of-five Dave Reynolds, 52, came to the rescue, grabbing
the knifeman around the throat and dragging him to the floor.

Pub landlord Latchana - whose partner Wendy Beharry was having an affair with Mr Mackay - admitted attempted murder earlier this month.

And this week his victim and the man who saved his life met for
the first time at Mr Mackay’s house in Windsor Road,
Canterbury.

Mr Mackay said: "We had a good chat talking about that day,
obviously, and then just normal day-to-day things. I didn’t think
we would meet up at all.

"It was a bit strange seeing someone who saved you but I feel so
much better after seeing him in person and talking to him.

"He was a nice, normal person; just very ordinary and
down-to-earth."

Mr Reynolds said it was a "humbling experience" to meet Mr
Mackay, admitting the meeting brought back memories of the
horrifying attack for both men.

He said: "I was very happy to see him because the last time I
saw him he was going into the ambulance and I didn’t know whether
he would make it or not.

"It was very surreal for me. It seemed to bring everything back
about that day.

"He remembers going into the ambulance but everything else I
think he has tried to block out. He still seems so frail but
hopefully he will make a full recovery."

Police cordon off scene
in Wincheap after early-morning knife attack

Electrical engineer Mr Reynolds, of Pine Tree Avenue,
Canterbury, had been on his way to work when he stumbled across the
attack on September 21 last year.

He said: "I was driving through Wincheap to my office in
Tenterden when a Mercedes came charging out of the petrol station
and almost took the front of my van off.

"I had to brake hard to avoid hitting him but then he pulled
over to the other side of the road into the face of oncoming
traffic.

"I flashed my lights and tooted at him to come back over and my
first thought was that he must be drunk.

"But he sped up and drove straight into a van coming the other
way, which he then started to ram with his car.

"A young lad then got out of the passenger seat at which point
he rammed it again. I thought ‘oh my God, what’s going on here’. I
thought I had better stop in case someone was injured and pulled up
alongside the van.

"I was just about to get out when I saw the driver of the
Mercedes walk past with a great big knife in his hand.

"By this time the van driver had got out and the Mercedes driver
just walked straight up to him and stabbed him in the stomach.

"I was thinking ‘I don’t believe this is happening’. I got out
of the van and started shouting at him to stop but he never said a
word.

"He was just going mad, really stabbing him hard around the
shoulders.

"I shouting something like ‘what do you think you’re doing?’
Then he turned round and looked me straight in the eye as if to say
‘don’t get involved’.

"I wouldn’t say he was demented, but he had a determined sort of
look on his face.

"he was stabbing him again and i don’t know why, maybe it was just instinct, but i grabbed him by the throat from behind and dragged him to the floor." – dave reynolds

"That’s when he took a swipe at me with the knife and my hand
was cut.

"He turned back round and went straight after the chap who, by
then, was trying to get away and shouting ‘help me someone, he’s
going to kill me’.

"He was stabbing him again and I don’t know why, maybe it was
just instinct, but I grabbed him by the throat from behind and
dragged him to the floor.

"We were fighting and the knife was right by my face but I just
couldn’t get it off him. I had him on the floor and then someone
who was standing by the paper shop came over and helped me.

"They jumped on him and I managed to get the knife off him and
throw it across the road. By that time someone else joined in, so
there were three of us.

"Once we’d got him subdued, I shouted ‘has anyone called an
ambulance?’ because I had gone back to the victim and was holding
his stomach in, which was hanging out.

"He was saying ‘oh God, I’m going to die’ and I was saying ‘no,
you’re going to be fine, the ambulance is on its way’. Then all the
emergency services arrived and took over.

Alexander Mackay needed
life-saving stomach surgery after the attack

"Looking back, I honestly don’t know what made me do it.

"It was just instinct which kicked in because someone was
shouting for help.

"Afterwards people were saying I was crazy to have jumped in.
When my wife Sandra heard the full story she went a bit mad at me
too.

"But I honestly believe if I hadn’t stopped him he would have
definitely killed him there and then.

"It still makes me feel uneasy when I think about it now so I’m
glad he’s pleaded guilty and I don’t have to give evidence."

Latchana, 61, will be sentenced in March at Canterbury Crown
Court.