3:00pm Saturday 16th June 2012
By Clare Hardy
THE partner of a man who was stabbed to death in a cafe has spoken of her family's relief after his killer’s conviction yesterday (Friday).
Matthew Quesada, 26, of no fixed address, was found guilty of murdering Alan Smith, of Hibbert Road, Walthamstow, at the Roma Cafe in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton, in March last year.
Quesada had verbally abused Mr Smith after the 63-year-old asked him if his three-year-old daughter, who was crying, was OK, while they were in a cafe across the road.
He left before finding him at the Roma Cafe and stabbing him repeatedly.
Quesada’s girlfriend, Maria Bridgette, 26, of Hibbert Road, Walthamstow, was found guilty of assisting an offender during the hearing at the Old Bailey.
Mr Smith’s partner, Denise Facey, 57, said it was the verdict she and the couple’s two sons, aged 25 and 21, were hoping for.
“It’s the verdict that we wanted,” she said. “We don’t know what the sentence is yet and obviously, it’s not going to bring Alan back.
“Everyone on the legal team has worked so hard and my boys, I think, are relieved.”
She paid tribute to the paramedics who tried to save Mr Smith’s life after he was stabbed, as well as the police.
“I’ve had some marvellous support from everyone,” she added. “Family and friends have been in court every day.
“There were a couple of days I missed and couldn’t hack it, and I don’t ever want to sit inside another court again.”
She said her partner had been a genuinely good and generous man.
“He would do anything for anybody,” she added. “He loved old people. He had elderly friends up the road and the Bakers’ Arms.
“He was a fantastic dad, 24/7.”
Quesada and Bridgette are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on July 13.
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