Spanish student Sergio Marquez, who was killed by Karl Addo. Photograph: Dorset police/PA
A man with paranoid schizophrenia who beheaded a flatmate with a cleaver after he "disappeared" from the mental health care system has been jailed for life.
Karl Addo attacked Sergio Marquez in the flat they shared in Bournemouth, believing he was a member of a supernatural gang who wanted to torture and kill him.
He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and will be detained at Broadmoor high security hospital in Berkshire.
Nigel Pascoe QC told Bournemouth crown court that Addo, 30, had vanished from the Huntley mental health centre in London, where he was a voluntary patient, in October 2011. The following day a tribunal decided that he should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act but his whereabouts was not known.
Pascoe said that Addo "disappeared" from mental health services and moved to Bournemouth in May 2012. He killed Marquez, a 23-year-old Spanish student and waiter, on 17 July last year.
In between he had been ejected from a terminal at Heathrow airport and seen by police at Marylebone station in London, where he had been sleeping rough, Pascoe said.
Outside court, the victim's mother, Maria Marquez Torres, 43, said she was devastated and angry that Addo had been free to kill, saying: "I cannot understand how someone like this who was known to have such problems has not been dealt with properly. More should have been done to protect people from this man.
"If he was so ill, how has he been allowed to live in a rented apartment with other people? It was clear that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened and he killed someone.
"I want him put away for life. Whatever punishment he gets it will not be enough. To me he is the devil. Because of what he did my life no longer makes any sense – it has been ripped in two."
There have been a number of high-profile violent murders involving men with paranoid schizophrenia in recent months. In October John Ward, 23, was sentenced to life for stabbing two Big Issue sellers to death in Birmingham after voices in his head ordered him to: "kill everyone."
Ward's conviction came less than a fortnight after the case of schoolgirl Christine Edkins, who was stabbed to death on a bus in Birmingham by Phillip Simelane, who also had paranoid schizophrenia.
In both cases questions were raised about the care the killers had been receiving.
Bournemouth crown court was told that in the weeks leading up to the attack on Marquez, Addo had been acting strangely. He stole food from flatmates and used pages from books in the flat as toilet paper. He was behind with his rent and had been told to leave by his landlord.
The court was told that Marquez had tried to defend himself against Addo but was cornered. A neighbour heard Marquez crying out: "Please Karl, please Karl" and Addo laughing.
Pascoe described the attack as "prolonged, horrific and very violent". After he was killed, Addo decapitated and disembowelled his victim.
Marquez's headless body was found by other flatmates when they arrived for a birthday party. Addo fled covered in blood but was found nearby by police.
Karl Addo attacked Sergio Marquez in the flat they shared in Bournemouth, believing he was a member of a supernatural gang who wanted to torture and kill him.
He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and will be detained at Broadmoor high security hospital in Berkshire.
Nigel Pascoe QC told Bournemouth crown court that Addo, 30, had vanished from the Huntley mental health centre in London, where he was a voluntary patient, in October 2011. The following day a tribunal decided that he should be sectioned under the Mental Health Act but his whereabouts was not known.
Pascoe said that Addo "disappeared" from mental health services and moved to Bournemouth in May 2012. He killed Marquez, a 23-year-old Spanish student and waiter, on 17 July last year.
In between he had been ejected from a terminal at Heathrow airport and seen by police at Marylebone station in London, where he had been sleeping rough, Pascoe said.
Outside court, the victim's mother, Maria Marquez Torres, 43, said she was devastated and angry that Addo had been free to kill, saying: "I cannot understand how someone like this who was known to have such problems has not been dealt with properly. More should have been done to protect people from this man.
"If he was so ill, how has he been allowed to live in a rented apartment with other people? It was clear that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened and he killed someone.
"I want him put away for life. Whatever punishment he gets it will not be enough. To me he is the devil. Because of what he did my life no longer makes any sense – it has been ripped in two."
There have been a number of high-profile violent murders involving men with paranoid schizophrenia in recent months. In October John Ward, 23, was sentenced to life for stabbing two Big Issue sellers to death in Birmingham after voices in his head ordered him to: "kill everyone."
Ward's conviction came less than a fortnight after the case of schoolgirl Christine Edkins, who was stabbed to death on a bus in Birmingham by Phillip Simelane, who also had paranoid schizophrenia.
In both cases questions were raised about the care the killers had been receiving.
Bournemouth crown court was told that in the weeks leading up to the attack on Marquez, Addo had been acting strangely. He stole food from flatmates and used pages from books in the flat as toilet paper. He was behind with his rent and had been told to leave by his landlord.
The court was told that Marquez had tried to defend himself against Addo but was cornered. A neighbour heard Marquez crying out: "Please Karl, please Karl" and Addo laughing.
Pascoe described the attack as "prolonged, horrific and very violent". After he was killed, Addo decapitated and disembowelled his victim.
Marquez's headless body was found by other flatmates when they arrived for a birthday party. Addo fled covered in blood but was found nearby by police.
No comments:
Post a Comment