Jersey stabbings: Hundreds attend Mass for victims

Hundreds of people have attended a special Mass held in memory of the six people stabbed to death in Jersey.

The service at St Thomas' Church in St Helier on Thursday night was conducted in both Polish and English.

The victims of Sunday's stabbings have been named locally as Izabela Rzeszowska, her two children, Kinga and Kacper, and her father Marek Garstki.

Marta de la Haye and her young daughter Julia also died in the attack at an apartment block in St Helier on Sunday.

Jersey police have refused to identify the victims formally until post-mortem examinations have been completed.

The Catholic Dean of Jersey, Monsignor Nicholas France, and Father Stanislaw Adamiak conducted the service.

'Feeling of shame'

Fr Adamiak, acting chaplain to the Polish Catholic Mission in Jersey, told the congregation: "At the very beginning it was a feeling of disbelief over what happened and, of course, a feeling of great pity for such a loss of human life.

"Also that it had happened here, in the place where we live, and that it happened to us Poles which also caused us a bit of a feeling of shame."

Izabela Rzeszowska and her children Kinga and Kacper were killed on Sunday

Monsignor France said: "Sometimes we would be better rather than trying to explain everything just to accept that we cannot and some things are beyond us."

A 30-year-old man, named locally as Izabela's husband Damian Rzeszowski, has been arrested in connection with the stabbings.

He is said to remain in a stable condition in Jersey General Hospital.

Jersey Police said they were waiting for confirmation from doctors about when he might be considered fit enough for police detention and questioning.

Polish people in Jersey are being offered support from the country's authorities.

Monika Panasiuk from the consular section of the Polish Embassy, who arrived in Jersey on Thursday, said it was a tough time for everyone.