Murder victim David’s chilling final text (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Murder victim David’s chilling final text

10:47pm Thursday 27th September 2007 in

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A BURNLEY man stabbed to death sent a last text message to a friend saying: "I think I'm being followed".

David Brown texted a pal shortly before he was found dead on his doorstep.

David's flatmate Matt Steeper, 25, said he was "haunted" by the text..

Mr Steeper also told how David, 24, from Burnley, was feeling "on edge" after being mugged for his mobile and wallet while on holiday in Spain the week before he was murdered.

And Mr Steeper said he was moving house as he could no longer bear to live in the place where his best friend and flatmate had died.

Police said they have investigated the text message but said that the information was "not a major lead".

But Mr Steeper said he had been left devastated that he was unable to do anything to help his friend.

He said: "It has been such a horrific time. I can't believe my best friend is no longer here.

"I've told the police about the message that David sent but they've told me that it is something for them to investigate and there is no point worrying about it and turning it over and over in my mind.

"I wish someone had been able to do something.

"David was a bit on edge after what had happened to him in Spain and was probably really frightened."

David had been on a night out in Manchester before he began to walk home to his flat in Chorlton Road, Hulme, at around 2.30am on Friday.

His body was discovered outside his building at 7.30am on Saturday.

He had been stabbed three times in the thigh in what police believe may have been a "street robbery gone wrong".

It is not known whether he was attacked outside his flat or if he had managed to walk some way after suffering his injuries.

Mr Steeper said it wasn't unusual for his friend to walk home after a night out, which he said he often did to save money.

Mr Steeper, a call centre worker, said he had lived with David for the past 18 months.

He said: "I've decided that I have to leave this flat now. I can't cope with living right where my best friend was killed. It is too much to cope with.

"I can't even stand to be in the flat. There are too many everyday things that remind me of him. It doesn't seem real that he has gone."

David, who dreamt of moving to Spain to teach English, was about to begin a Spanish degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.

He had lived in Manchester for the past four years but grew up in Burnley, attending St Stephen's Primary School, Burnley, Mansfield High School, Brierfield, and Burnley College.

Mr Steeper added: "David was a great friend. He was a quiet person but great fun and he loved socialising.

"He had a close group of friends and what has happened has affected us all.

"We are just trying to remember what he was like and determined to help in any way to catch the person who did this."

Since David's death his family have appealed for help in catching his killer.

Two websites have been set up in his memory by family and friends in a bid publicise their cause.

Speaking earlier this week, mum Sylvia Stansfield, 51, of Laburnum Close, said: "I will never be able to come to terms with what has happened.

"He was a sensible lad who had now found what his dream was and was really focused on getting there.

"He has had that taken away from him now."

Mrs Stansfield, who works for the Pension Service in Padiham, added: "It is more than I can bear that he died on his own.

"I need to lay him to rest and I cannot do that until we know what happened."

David's half-brother Samuel Barton, 13, of Clayton-le-Moors, has set up a website to encourage people to come forward with information.

Sister Zoe Brown, 29, of Piccadilly Road, Burnley said earlier this week that she was trying to stay strong.

She said: "The hardest thing is not knowing where he was stabbed and how long it took him to get home to die.

"That is why we need people to come forward with information."

A police spokesman said: "We are looking at all lines of inquiry and we are keeping a completely open mind.

"But it is more likely to be a street robbery that has gone wrong than anything else.

"We know that David had visited a cash point that evening and his brown wallet containing cash has not been found.

"We do not think he realised how badly he was injured and he could have walked for some distance.

"Adrenaline would have been pumping and he didn't realise."