A CHEF stabbed to death following an open-air music concert featuring The Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra died trying to protect his fiancee, it has emerged.

Reynald Duchene, 37, was stabbed shortly after leaving the open-air concert with his partner Paula Haddlesey, her teenage children and friends.

The group had been approached by two men who tried to steal deckchairs being carried by Mrs Haddlesey but they then launched a brutal attack.

The chef was stabbed in the chest and collapsed a short distance away. He was found by his partner and friends.

Paramedics were unable to save Mr Duchene, of Arlington Square, South Woodham Ferrers, Essex, who had been to the Concert in the Park in Priory Park, Southend, to celebrate Mrs Haddlesey’s 44th birthday. A post-mortem examination showed that the provisional cause of death to be a single stab wound.

A spokesperson for Essex Police said: “Police search teams have recovered a knife, but it is not the murder weapon so detectives are still asking people and local residents to look out for a discarded knife.”

The two men that detectives urgently need to identify are described as tanned and approximately 5ft 10ins tall. One was wearing all-white clothing and aged in his late teens or early 20s. He was of slim build and has short, dark spiky hair. His trousers were three-quarter length and his top had a large Nike tick logo.

Two men from Southend, aged 18 and 19, are currently on police bail until Friday, August 6 after having been arrested in connection with this incident.

Anyone with information in connection with this murder is urged to contact detectives in the incident room at Brentwood on 0300 333 4444 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111.