The mother of a British schoolboy stabbed to death by her ex-partner has said she wishes she had died with him. 

Alfie Hallett, 13, was killed on Tuesday by Goncalo Carvalho, 43, at his home in Casais, located in the Tomar region of Portugal. 

His mother, 43-year-old Rachel Reeves, gave a heartbreaking tribute to her beloved son, telling how it now 'hurts to breathe'. 

Police say Alfie was killed by shop worker Carvalho after the man had first attacked his mother. 

His mother's ex then injured himself with the same knife used to stab the teenager and barricaded himself inside the family home.

As emergency services arrived on the scene, Carvalho then caused a gas explosion which killed him - and injured a police officer. 

Ms Reeves said of her son: 'He was taken from me so unfairly and cruelly by that monster – too soon, when he still had so much to live for, so much to give to the world.

'I miss him so much that it hurts to breathe. I wish he had taken me too, because my world ended the day I lost him. My heart is broken, shattered, and I don't know how I will ever get through this.

Alfie Hallett, 13, was killed on Tuesday by Goncalo Carvalho, 43, at his home in Casais, located in the Tomar region of Portugal

His mother Rachel Reeves - pictured with Alfie when he was younger - said on social media that she wished she had been taken with her son

'I just hope, from the bottom of my soul, that Alfie always knew how loved he was – by me, above all else, with every fibre of my being. He was everything to me, my reason for living.'

Linda Hallett, Alfie's grandmother, said he was a 'lovely, gentle boy with a heart of gold' and she believes he died trying to protect his mother after Carvalho launched his attack. 

During the horror assault, Ms Reeves was beaten by Carvalho, who then tied up her hands and feet.

But the mother managed to escape and raise the alarm with neighbours. When emergency services arrived, she was taken to a local hospital for treatment. 

Portuguese police said Carvalho has previously served a prison sentence for aggravated homicide, reportedly spending around 15 years in jail for fatally stabbing a man 35 times in a park as a 19-year-old.

He was said to have been released due to good behaviour. 

Officers added they had received reports of domestic violence involving the family in 2022 and 2023 and that Ms Reeves had previously reported her partner to police.

Ms Reeves and Carvalho had officially separated before the attack that took Alfie's life. 

Alfie was found with stab wounds at the apartment where he lived with his mother in the village of Casais, some 10-miles north of Tomar