The Ex-husband of Jennifer Mills-Westley, the 60-year-old British grandmother beheaded by a crazed attacker, on the Spanish Island of Tenerife, has spoken out from Ireland about his shock at her brutal murder.

Mills-Westley was attacked by a man wielding a knife at the resort of Los Cristianos last Friday. The attacker, Deyan Valentinov Deyanov, a homeless 28-year-old Bulgarian man, had a record of mental health issues. He has now been placed in custody by a Spanish judge.

Mills-Westley's ex-husband Peter Mills-Westley spoke to the Evening Herald from his home in Gorey, County Wexford. He said that he has not been able to sleep since her heard the horrific news.

"It's getting to the point now where I've had just two hours of sleep in three days". When asked how the rest of her family, including their two daughters, Sarah and Samantha, are coping he said "Not good. We're all shocked…It goes without saying that we need to know why this man was out on the streets, and that needs to be looked into."

Paying tribute to her mother, Sarah said that she had been "full of life, generous of heart and would do anything for anyone…We now have to find a way of living without her love and light."

Mill-Westley was attacked and stabbed 14 times while browsing in a tourist souvenir shop. The assailant, Deyanov, was arrested on the street nearby having been tackled and held down by a security guard.

After he was arrested it emerged that an arrest warrant had been issued for him three days before he stabbed Mills-Westley. He is now in custody with no possibility of bail.

A local shopkeeper said that Deyanov had been in their shop and had asked for a large knife. When they asked why he responded "I'm going to kill someone". After they kicked him out of the shop he stole a knife from a stall and attacked Mills-Westley.