THE heartbroken pal of a mum who was stabbed by her evil ex-boyfriend in a row over child support has told how she cradled her in her dying moments.

Twisted Mark Morris knifed ex partner Emma Day in the back as she walked home from the school run after refusing to pay £5 maintenance for their young daughter.

He chillingly told cops after he was arrested: "I thought I would feel bad for this but I don't".

Now mum-of-two Emma's distraught best friend Sallie Clarke has relived the harrowing attack in May 2017.

She told The Mirror how callous Morris remained "freakily calm" as he carried out his daylight knife rampage in West Norwood, South London.

Brave Sallie had tried to fight him off as he plunged the knife into hospital worker Emma, 31 — as he said: "I'll go to prison before you get a penny from me".

Sallie, 37, said: "He came flying past. I saw this shimmer, I clocked he had a knife. He just shoved the knife into Emma's back.

"I ran between him and Emma and did everything I could to fight him off.

"Emma turned and said 'what the f**k?' I managed to get him off of her. He was coming either side of me with this knife.

"I just had to get him off her. I couldn't think about anything else. I was screaming at him to stop, screaming for help, but he was totally silent.

"He was freakily calm. He was stabbing the mother of his child but he was calm. He looked like any other time I saw him. He didn't look angry or upset."

Sallie, who held the blood-soaked mum as she lay dying in the street, added: “Mark was asked to pay £5 a day in child support.

"He left his daughter with no mum and no dad for £5 per day."

Morris was caged for life with a minimum of 21 years after he pleaded guilty to murder just before his trial was due to start in December last year.

Their heartbroken daughter, now seven, said her "heart is empty" after her mum's murder at her sick dad's hand.

In a victim impact statement read to the Old Bailey, Emma's sister said of her niece: "She says her heart is empty."

Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC said the tormented youngster now "associates everything with death and dying and that of course is because of the actions of her own father".

The court heard how Morris had apologised to his daughter before stabbing her mum.

And on the day of the attack, Morris text his mum saying: "I'm saying goodbye to all of you.

"If I'm still alive please don't visit me. Just tell everyone I'm sorry but I had to do this."

He downed two cans of beer and lay in wait for his ex near home clutching a kitchen knife before pouncing.

Sarah Whitehouse QC, prosecuting, said: "He seemed sweaty, dirty and under the influence of alcohol.

"He approached the group, and said to his daughter, 'I'm really sorry.' The daughter backed away."

Morris started to beg Emma about the payments after the Child Maintenance Service had told him he would be required to pay £1,277 a year, or £24.56 a week — smaller than an earlier estimate.

The mum told him she was "struggling" and had two children to feed, but Morris accused her of doing it for "revenge", adding: "You leave me with no choice."

As she walked away, Morris plunged the knife into her back as she cried out "what are you doing?".

The killer then called an ambulance shortly after the stabbing, saying he had been told a woman was bleeding after being stabbed but said he did not know who was responsible.

The weapon and a bag containing letters from the Child Maintenance Service were found near the scene, the court heard.

Morris phoned his mother after dialling 999 and told her: "I've done it, the thing we spoke about, I've stabbed her."