US police hunt Briton's killer

US police are hunting the killer of a 37-year-old British man once voted one of the UK's most eligible bachelors.

Swimming instructor Paul Lavern Ritch, from Cardiff, is thought to have intervened in an incident and was stabbed in the chest while on holiday in Margate, New Jersey, in the early hours of Sunday.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said Margate Police received reports that a man had been stabbed at around 2am on Sunday in the vicinity of Washington and Monmouth Avenues.

Mr Ritch was taken to a medical centre but was pronounced dead at 3.04am.

In 2002 Mr Ritch, who appeared on ITV show Gladiators in 1998, was featured in Company magazine as one of the 50 most eligible bachelors in Britain.

In the same year, Mr Ritch, who lived in Newport at the time, was voted 12th most eligible bachelor in Wales by the Wales on Sunday newspaper.

Mr Housel gave details of a man police want to speak to in connection with the stabbing. He is white, aged 34 to 45, about 5ft 10in and of a medium to heavy build.

He has dark hair, which may contain some grey, and was wearing a green hat with a flat top and short brim, reminiscent of an army fatigue hat.

South Wales Police said they are supporting Mr Ritch's family at their home in the Pentrebane area of Cardiff.

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