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The body of 43-year-old chemistry teacher Menelaos (Mel) Aligizakis was found in a pool of blood at a bus stop in London, near Waterloo station, at 2:45 pm last Saturday. The man was killed in a cruel way and had multiple head wounds.

The British police have apprehended a 29-year-old man named Mark Dwayne Patten, who is the main suspect in the murder of the teacher. The reasons for the act are still unclear, as reported by the Greek media.

According to chief inspector of Scotland Yard's Homicide and Major Crime Command Diane Tudway, "This is a very busy part of London frequented by both commuters and those on a night out." She had urged any citizens who witnessed the murder to contact the London police and to provide information.

The murder of the teacher and the apprehending of the 29-year-old man were widely covered by the British media.

Menelaos Aligizakis was a natural sciences teacher and worked at prestigious schools. He studied classical piano at the National Music School of Greece, and was later admitted to the Physics School of the University of Athens where he specialised in Telecommunications and Informatics. After his graduation in 1995, he worked for years as a teacher at various public and private schools and universities in Greece and England.

In addition to Athens College which was his last job before the murder Aligizakis taught in the Greek-French Ursuline School, in colleges in Westminster and Wimbledon and in Latymer School of Arts.

The tragically murdered teacher also taught music technology in various music schools in London and other cities in the UK, while composing melodies at the same time. For 25 years, he had had his own recording studio.

Besides Greek and English, Aligizakis spoke French and Bulgarian, and sign language. He loved to travel, read books and practised yoga.

The news about his murder has shocked his students at Athens College, as reported by the Greek electronic edition iefimerida.gr. They have created a Facebook page in his memory and in their comments on it, they describe Aligizakis as one of their best teachers.

"He was a wonderful person. I still remember everything he has told us. He was the best teacher I had, he always knew what to do and he was always smiling. Too bad that this man has gone," wrote a schoolgirl.

Her classmate adds, "A wonderful teacher and a wonderful person. Let him rest in peace. I cannot believe what has happened. He will not enter the classroom on Thursday. He will not come. He was a wonderful person."