32yo Muscovite Alexei. G unable to accept that his wife and young daughter had walked out on him stood up in front of the congregation at his local church of John The Baptist and plunged a huge knife into his temple.

Incredibly Alexei survived his suicide attempt in which some of the congregation had passed out at the scene and was rushed straight to the operating theatre.

Friends of Alexei said the last few months had been hard for him after losing his mother and father a few months apart and then the news his wife and daughter were leaving him had tipped him over the edge.