A ‘VIGILANTE’ driver who mowed down and killed a knifeman who stabbed his ex-wife to death is “living a nightmare” after the horror incident.
Wafah Chkaifi, 43, was stabbed to death by her ex Leon McCaskie, 41, after dropping her children off at school in Maida Vale, West London.
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The mum-of-two was stabbed by her “demon” ex before an unnamed driver rushed to help – ploughing into McCaskie before screaming “what have I done”.
Police arrested the 26-year-old driver on suspicion of murder, but have since released him on bail after quizzing him.
A pal told the Sun: “He is living a nightmare. He keeps saying he didn’t mean to kill the man. He was just trying to save the woman. He wasn’t even going that fast.
“He is a good man. He’s a good Muslim and for him all life is sacred, so to kill someone is against his faith and he is struggling with this.
“He has two children and a wife and is a very humble family man. He’s a very committed believer and has helped the police all he can.
“He works as an electrician and some of his client are Jewish and they are all worried for him. They want to try and help him and have told him he is a good man.”
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Thousands of people have now backed the driver as a ‘hero’, and set up a petition to stop him being charged.
A Change.org petition said: “He is a hero. He is our Maida Vale Hero Driver. He does not deserve a prison sentence. He acted to stop this horror.
“He must be in complete shock by seeing this stabbing and is not a murderer.
“He tried to protect the woman. The stabber is the murderer as he had an intent to kill but the driver just wanted to stop it.”
So far more than 4,300 people have given their support to the young driver, with dozens saying that he should not be “prosecuted for trying to save her life.”
Police confirmed that the driver had been fully co-operating with the investigation and was bailed to a date in February.
Horrified witnesses saw the mum scream for help before a bystander ploughed into the hooded knifeman after watching the brutal attack.
Raad Jiyad, 52, also tried to intervene when he heard the woman’s frantic screams for help outside of a school.
He said: “I was at home when I heard someone crying for help. I saw him stab her four or five times in the chest.
“The man who arrived in the blue car, which was a Renault, was scared about what happened. We spoke to each other and he tried to stop the guy with the knife.
“I wanted to try and make him come towards me instead to buy her some time.
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“We tried to save her. He had this big knife so no one wanted to go near. Then this car came through and ran him over.
“It was all over so quickly. He went completely under the car. I think the driver was just trying to buy time to distract him.”
Heartbroken family members of Wafah, also known as Yasmin, have also hailed the driver as a “hero” for trying to save the mum who had a “heart of gold.”
A family spokeswoman told The Sun: “The man who killed my sister is a demon. The man who killed him is a hero. He deserves a medal from the queen.
“There is no way he should go through the justice system for what he did. He tried to help her and for my sister and our family he is a hero.
“If anything we want to thank him for what he did. The man responsible is called Leon.
“He was a demon. He was a monster but the driver is a hero. He saw what was happening and tried to stop it. I want to say thank you again.”
It is understood that Wafah, aslo known as Yasmin, lived just a few minutes walk from the scene on Chippenham Road.
She had dropped her teenage children, 16 and 18, off at school when the drama happened at 9am yesterday.
‘VERY VIOLENT’
The petition comes after it was revealed that McCaskie had been handed an interim stalking order by Met cops in relation to his ex, after years of abuse.
He had reportedly failed to turn up to court in early January after being charged with breaching the restraining order last year.
Her family claim that she secured the order against him after their divorce three years ago, and was so terrified of him she installed a panic alarm in her flat.
Her son said: “He was ordered to keep away from her but recently had started stalking her, which got worse over the past few weeks.
“The whole family was worried about her ex because he could be very violent.
“The police should have done something when he didn’t turn up to court last week.”
A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said: “A Stalking Prevention Order had been obtained against the deceased man, as a matter of course there will be a review by the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards NPTD further.”
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