THE mother of a man arrested over the death of a Suffolk student has vowed to stand by her son.

Anthony Bond

THE mother of a man arrested over the death of a Suffolk student has vowed to stand by her son.

David Heiss, 21, was arrested by German police on Wednesday on suspicion of murdering 20-year-old Matthew Pyke from Stowmarket.

Mr Pyke was found stabbed to death in the Nottingham city centre flat he shared with his girlfriend, Joanna Witton, on Friday, September 19.

But speaking from her home in Germany, Heiss' mother Betty said: “I can't believe that my son would ever do this. I love him very much, like before this happened."

Mrs Heiss said she had not seen her son since his arrest, despite living less than 200 metres from Limburg Prison.

He is being kept there pending an extradition court hearing being sought by Nottinghamshire Police.

Mr Pyke, a former Stowmarket High School pupil, ran a website called Wars Central with his girlfriend, where fans of the computer strategy game Advance Wars could discuss strategies and forums.

German police confirmed last week that Heiss and Mr Pyke met over the internet. There have been reports that Heiss had fallen in love with Miss Witton.

Mr Pyke moved to Nottingham two years ago from Stowmarket and was due to start a degree course at Nottingham Trent University.

Miss Witton's former boss said she had been deeply in love with Mr Pyke.

Gary Sutemire, manager of Rohan in York, an outdoor adventure clothing company where she worked during summer breaks, described her as a "happy and likeable girl".

He added: "I only met him [Mr Pyke] once. She always spoke fondly of him. She was definitely someone who was in love with this guy.”

Police are still trying to secure a court date for the extradition hearing to bring Heiss back to England.