TEN years ago on Sunday, Chingford policeman Sgt Alan King was brutally stabbed to death as he tackled two burglars.

He is thought to be the first and only police officer to be murdered on duty in Waltham Forest in the 20th century.

The long-serving police officer, who had joined the force in 1969, left behind a wife and four children.

His murderer, Nicholas Vernage, 26, was seen smiling and sneering in court as he listened to the prosecution relay a shocking account of his month-long spree of burglary and killing.

When the judge handed down five life sentences for murder and other violent offences, the cop killer, who had previously boasted of his war against the police, insouciantly wished him a "Merry Christmas".

The killing of Sgt King sent shockwaves throughout Waltham Forest.

Members of the public stacked flowers outside Chingford and Walthamstow police stations.

Chief Superintendent Stainsby, who knew Sgt King when he was a cadet, said: "When you look at his career profile, it has the stamp of someone who always wanted to be a police officer.

"Here is a guy who could have turned his hand to anything, There is not a thing he would not have measured himself up against.

"The tragic circumstances of his death sum up the man.

"He saw something going on and got out of his car to deal with it without a thought for anything else."

Vernage, of All Saints Tower, Leyton, first landed on the wrong side of the law when he was arrested and imprisoned for a series of robberies in 1987.

People who came into contact with him during this time say that he entered prison a tearaway, but left a changed man with an obsessive hatred of the police.

He soon started a month-long crime spree that would end with the killing of Sgt King.

He burgled a house in Woodford Green on October 28 and struck again in the same area on November 14.

A week later he went to the home of his girlfriend, Lorna Bogle, in West Avenue Road, Walthamstow.

Her "crime" was not having written to him during his time in prison.

Wearing a balaclava and armed with a knife, Mr Vernage murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her 21 times in the hands, back and chest.

Three days later he struck again. Javaid Iqbal, 37, a part-time mini-cab driver, of Napier Road, Leytonstone, arrived home from work to find Mr Vernage burgling his flat.

Mr Iqbal, a black belt judo expert, made the fatal mistake of trying to tackle him. He died from a single stab wound to the chest.

The killing spree ended with the murder of Sgt King.

Vernage was carrying out a burglary in Higham Hill Road, Walthamstow, when he was disturbed by Sgt King.

As the home beat officer tried to investigate, he was stabbed eight times by Vernage and subsequently died.

Vernage, who kept a picture of police officers in his house which he regularly attacked with a screwdriver, was arrested when two other policemen spotted his car in Norwood, south London, on the same day.

They, too were stabbed, but survived.

Sgt King would have been 51 this year. After his death his wife, Monica, paid a moving tribute.

"He was a good copper and a professional in everything he did.

"He was a people's policeman and loved being out in the community and not stuck behind a desk.

"He died doing the job he loved."

A service in memory of Sgt King will be held today (Thursday) at St Gabriel's Church, Havant Road, Walthamstow.

His widow will be there to hear borough commander Colin Poulter read the lesson his final act in his post before retiring from the police force.