State funeral being held for Bourke Street stabbing victim Sisto Malaspina

Just a short walk from where smiling Sisto Malaspina spent decades feeding hungry Melburnians, the 74-year-old terror victim is being farewelled at a state funeral.

Mourners arrived for a service for the co-owner of Pellegrini’s Espresso Bar at East Melbourne’s St Patrick’s Cathedral on Tuesday.

Family members are among those to pay tribute to Mr Malaspina whose stabbing death prompted an outpouring of grief across Australia.

Mr Malaspina was killed and two other men were injured on November 9 when 30-year-old Hassan Khalif Shire Ali drove a burning ute into the city and launched a knife attack.

Police shot Shire Ali who later died in hospital.

Since the tragedy, hundreds of cards and bunches of flowers have been left outside Pellegrini’s on Bourke Street, while devastated customers queued to sign a book of condolence.

Premier Daniel Andrews, who made the offer of a state funeral to his family, said Mr Malaspina was a “Victorian icon, known and loved by us all”.