A ‘PROUD dad’ was stabbed outside his Didcot home in the early hours of the morning, an inquest has heard.

Darren MacCormick died on January 9 after he was stabbed in the chest in front of his house on Mendip Heights.

The 44-year-old,who was known as ‘Dizzy Love’, was given CPR by someone who witnessed the ‘fight’ and called 999.

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But when paramedics arrived at around 3.45am they found him in cardiac arrest.

He was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford but died an hour later at 4.56am from a stab wound close to his heart.

The details of Mr MacCormick's death were revealed at an inquest opening at Oxford Coroner's Court today.

Head coroner Darren Salter also said that Mr MacCormick had been working at a window fitting company in Didcot.

Now a former colleague has set up a fundraising webpage to help cover the cost of his funeral.

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Jodie Jefferson set up the page to give his family ‘one less thing to worry about’.

Of the £5,000 target, more than £2,800 has been raised.

She wrote on the page: “No parents expect to have to bury their child and Darren’s parents were no exception, therefore to try and make things a little easier for them I thought that we could all club together and help to raise funds towards Darren’s funeral.

“I know it would give the family one less thing to worry about and Darren was always one to help if he could, Please help us to help his family if you can.”

His family left tributes to the 'amazing' and 'caring' dad of three.

So far 86 people have donated to the fundraiser.

Ms Jefferson said he had 'touched a lot of lives', telling this paper: “I worked with Darren for many years, he was the hardest worker.

"We often joked that we would love to clone him as he had the inability to sit down and be still: he kept working as everyone else took their break.

“He was a joker who always made everyone laugh. I have many fond memories of Darren and I will miss seeing his smiling face and infectious laugh. Darren loved his children and was always speaking about them at work, he was a very proud dad to his three children.”

Three men have been charged with his murder and will appear at Oxford Crown Court on April 7 to enter pleas.

No date has been set for his funeral, or inquest, because of the ongoing police investigation.

See the Go Fund Me page here