Gazette Live | 12 July 2019 |
The mother and son both had difficulties with drugs and mental health, his disorder seemingly brought on by cannabis and cocaine use in his teens.
A mentally ill man stabbed his own mother to death in their home.
Ian McKenzie, 34, killed his mother four to six days after he stopped taking potent anti-psychotic medication which kept him stable in the community.
The troubled son, who has paranoid schizophrenia, walked into Middlesbrough police station with a friend and confessed to the killing on March 20.
He said he attacked her after she refused to forgive him for stabbing her neck, and drinking her blood, when he was 16.
His mother Alison McKenzie, 55, suffered stab wounds to the head and neck, one of which severed the jugular vein, at their home in Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough.
The killer claimed he had took his own life by jumping off a bridge in front of a train the previous day, but had "come back to life".
"He couldn't understand why she'd not come back to life," said prosecutor Nick Dry.
"He said he'd died for the devil, put his mother out of her misery and everybody in his head had been telling him to do it."
He heard voices, had drug-induced delusional thoughts and was admitted to a mental health facility from 2006 to 2009.
By January this year he was thought to be stable and posing low risk, but stopped taking his medication and started having delusional and violent thoughts days before the killing.
He denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The Crown accepted his plea following unanimous agreement between three psychiatrists.
McKenzie, of Ingram Road, Berwick Hills, Middlesbrough, appeared at Teesside Crown Court via video link to the town's Roseberry Park hospital.
Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, gave him a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.
He can only be released by agreement of the Home Secretary or a mental health review tribunal.
Psychiatrist Dr Christopher Green told the court: "I can't see Mr McKenzie being released from hospital in the foreseeable future."
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/blood-drinking-son-admits-stabbing-16575724
Author Ross GraingerPosted on July 16, 2019 July 16, 2019 Categories MurderTags England, mental illness, Teesside LiveLeave a comment on Blood-drinking son admits stabbing mum to death after claiming he'd 'died for the Devil'
Gazette Live | 29 Apr 2019 |
"I wasn't going to get tablets… I had cannabis."
Natalie Saunders died following an "orgy of violence" during which she received over 50 separate blows to her body and 85 injuries, the trial heard.
Charlton, 24, of Finsbury Street, Gresham, Middlesbrough, had denied murdering her at her home in Tomlinson Way, Brambles Farm, Middlesbrough…
The prosecutor says the couple spent the day together on October 6. That evening they went to Grove Hill where cannabis and probably diazepam were bought… Stephen Charlton told him [clinical care assistant Stephen Bell] they had taken 10 diazepam tablets, he had been smoking weed since 8pm the previous evening as well as drinking vodka and bottles of lager…
Makepeace [prosecuting]: "How are you going to get your tablets?"
Charlton: "I wasn't going to get tablets… I had cannabis".'
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/guilty-murder-stephen-charlton-convicted-16141926
Author Ross GraingerPosted on July 15, 2019 July 16, 2019 Categories MurderTags England, Teesside LiveLeave a comment on Guilty of murder: Stephen Charlton convicted of strangling Middlesbrough mum
Gazette Live | 28 May 2019 |
Results from Timney's blood tests, carried out 18 hours after the incident, showed the use of cocaine, cannabis and the sleep-inducing drug zopiclone.
A man accused of killing his neighbour has been locked up for 14 years after a jury convicted him of manslaughter.
Andrew Timney had denied murdering 43-year-old Jason Dean in what the prosecution described as a "sustained attack" in the victim's Bankfields flat.
Mr Dean was found unconscious in a communal corridor with fractured ribs, cuts, bruises and internal bleeding. He died despite attempts to resuscitate him.
Timney, of Brackenfield Court, Bankfields, Eston, said he thought Mr Dean was "messing about" when he suddenly collapsed.
He told jurors he heard a "bang or a thud" and saw his neighbour lying on his back in the doorway outside his kitchen.
After a two-and-a-half week murder trial, the jury retired to begin its deliberations on Friday afternoon at Teesside Crown Court and returned to deliver a verdict on Tuesday.
Timney, 30, was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury and jailed for 14 years by the Recorder of Middlesbrough, Judge Simon Bourne-Arton QC.
https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/live-updates-man-goes-trial-16238003
Author Ross GraingerPosted on July 15, 2019 July 15, 2019 Categories ManslaughterTags England, Gazette LiveLeave a comment on Andrew Timney convicted of manslaughter and jailed for 14 years after death of Jason Dean
As in cases of 'Islamic' terrorism, the matter of cannabis in cases of gang rapes of young girls (I try to avoid the awful word 'grooming') is often overshadowed by polemical discussions on race, religion and immigration. This is as true in the following recent case from Huddersfield as in any other: 'All the evidence that led to pair being found guilty of abusing Huddersfield grooming gang victim'. Nevertheless, I shall point out that at least one of the two defendants smoked cannabis, though you'll have to scroll to the end of the article and wait for several days of evidence to load before finding it:
The complainant said Akram was a drug dealer, but he denied that he has ever been a drug dealer.
Asked about a text he sent her about money, he said it would have been to buy cannabis.
He said he had been smoking cannabis for a number of years at that point.
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 27, 2019 Categories Rape and sexual violenceTags England, Huddersfield Examiner, rapeLeave a comment on Cannabis and gang rapes
Manchester Evening News | 20 June 2019 |
Maxwell portrayed himself as a 'King of Kids" who smoked a bong for breakfast, showed off his cannabis stash for the cameras and turned up late for court in the first episode of the controversial 2015 TV series.
Benefits Street star Neil Maxwell told a judge "that is absolutely sound" as he was today jailed for his part in a murder.
Maxwell, 40, from North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, has been sentenced for life with a minimum term of 30 years over the death of Lee Cooper.
Mr Cooper was brutally kicked, stamped on, stripped naked, slashed and bludgeoned to death in a "rampage of violence" shortly before Christmas, the court heard.
The victim, 43, suffered 114 injuries including multiple skull fractures, bleeding and swelling to the brain and 24 puncture wounds to his back.
Maxwell appeared in the dock alongside Luke Pearson, 19, from Parkfield, Stockton, who was also found guilty of Mr Cooper's murder, reports Teesside Live.
Maxwell, who was thrust into the spotlight on Channel 4's Benefits Street as a tattooed skinhead, had initially denied the murder of Mr Cooper, but dramatically changed his plea last week.
Pearson denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility but was found guilty by a jury on Monday. He was today jailed for life with a minimum term of 24 years.
Both will have time already spent on remand counted towards their sentence.
The pair received six years for a separate wounding charge, and 18 months for assault occasioning actual bodily harm (ABH) linked to violence carried out in the hours up to the murder. These sentences will be concurrent.
As Judge Ashurst explained the sentences, Maxwell shouted from the dock: "F*** licence, I will just do the 30 years, no problem. No problem."
Maxwell continued: "That is absolutely sound, that will do me."
There were shouts of "scumbag" from the public gallery as he was led away.
Earlier in court, Pearson shouted from the dock: "Just put me away for 30 years, f*** it." as his previous convictions were listed.
Maxwell had also shouted from the dock following an impassioned victim statement from Mr Cooper's sister Louise.
Turning to both men, she said: "Those two individuals who have sat in the dock and shown no remorse or regret.
"They're not men, or even human. Not even animals are that sadistic and callous as they have shown to be through the brutal murder of Lee."
She continued: "You both mutilated him into something that no person should ever have to see."
Maxwell shouted: "I have shown remorse. Put me in jail for as long as you like, but don't give this poor lad (pointing at Pearson) as long. I started it."
Mr Cooper was attacked with weapons including hammers, a craft knife, a spiked knuckle-duster, a half-brick and a TV stand, the court was told.
The Crown said the eight-minute attack on December 23, 2018 was "the endgame of a simmering feud" after Mr Cooper was accused of an assault on the pair's friend.
Meanwhile, Maxwell portrayed himself as a 'King of Kids" who smoked a bong for breakfast, showed off his cannabis stash for the cameras and turned up late for court in the first episode of the controversial 2015 TV series.
In reality, he was a sadistic thug with a long history of violence who slashed victims across the back as a 'warning'.
Both he and Pearson were filmed on police cameras after their arrest, with Maxwell bragging about the horrific murder.
The jury was shown disturbing footage in which Mr Cooper sustained horrific injuries, filmed by a nearby security camera.
The "feud" between the three men resulted in injuries to Mr Cooper, which an ex-Army doctor described as the worst he had ever seen despite four tours of Afghanistan.
Mr Cooper's family said they had lost a 'much loved son, brother and uncle' to two men who tried to hide behind legislation to avoid a murder conviction.
"But the judge and jury saw through this," they said.
Det Ch Insp Matt Murphy-King, of Cleveland Police, said Mr Cooper was victim of a sustained and brutal murder in the middle of a residential street.
"In my years as a detective I have never dealt with such a horrific incident," he said.
"They have shown no remorse and have subjected Lee's family to the horrific details of his death played out in open court."
Maxwell had initially claimed he was in fear of serious violence which caused him to lose control. But that defence was denied him by the judge, and he admitted murder after the trial began.
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/uk-news/benefits-street-star-shouts-judge-16462893
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 26, 2019 June 28, 2019 Categories MurderTags England, Manchester Evening NewsLeave a comment on Benefits Street star shouts at judge 'that is absolutely sound' as he's jailed for murder
Southern Daily Echo | 19 Dec 2002 |
Stephanie Hancock was a teenager at school when she first set eyes on Philip Caswell – but little did she know that his cannabis addiction would eventually kill her.
"IF I can't have you no-one will."
That was the chilling promise made to Stephanie Hancock, 22, by her partner Philip Caswell, who yesterday admitted her murder.
She was strangled, battered and stabbed at her Hampshire home. Winchester Crown Court heard how Caswell, 31, was unable to accept their relationship had ended. Days before the murder he told a friend that he would "probably kill her".
He fulfilled his promise on July 22 by murdering Stephanie as she slept at their home on Pegasus Close, Gosport.
The court also heard how Caswell suffered from a personality disorder because of a long-term dependence on cannabis.
In handing down a sentence of life imprisonment for murder, the judge, Mr Justice Poole, said: "You suffered abnormality of mind associated with cannabis abuse but it was not abnormal enough to impair your responsibility for carrying out the killing."
At the age of 15, while she was a pupil at Brune Park School, she first set eyes on the then 23-year-old and was smitten.
A year later, in 1994, Stephanie moved with her parents, Caroline and Steve, to Banbury in Oxfordshire – and Caswell followed.
Last year the couple returned to the Hampshire town where they first fell in love and set up home in a housing association flat in Pegasus Close, Gosport.
Neighbours described the pretty 22-year-old as a devoted mother. But all was not well in the couple's seven-year relationship.
Stephanie confided in close friends she wanted Caswell to leave – but he would not go.
He told her that if he could not have her, no one would.
In the early hours of Monday, July 22, this year he kept to his promise by brutally killing her as she slept. Yesterday, a weeping Caswell, 31, pleaded guilty to murdering the Royal Naval officer's daughter by strangling and battering her in their bedroom.
It emerged at Winchester Crown Court that Caswell's cannabis addiction – he had smoked the drug every day since the age of 17 – had worsened his personality disorder.
Anthony Donne QC, prosecuting, said unemployed Caswell was unable to accept that his girlfriend wanted to end the relationship.
On the fateful day, Caswell punched her, smashed her head against the wall and strangled her with a cord.
He then went to the kitchen, got a knife and stabbed her four times in the back.
Mr Donne QC added that Caswell's mother had described him as "very selfish" with a "foul and violent temper."
He told the court that evidence showed a history of violence in the relationship.
Towards the end, Stephanie told Caswell she was going to end the relationship, but every time he started crying.
"She woke up and found the defendant looking down on her and snarling 'I am going to kill you'", said Mr Donne QC.
"About a week before the death the defendant and a close friend went out together for a bike ride.
"When they stopped the friend realised the defendant was crying and asked what was wrong. Caswell turned to him and said: 'If I can't have her no one will.'
"Asked what he meant by that the defendant said: 'I will probably kill her.'"
A post-mortem examination revealed the cause of death was strangulation. Today Caswell is starting a life sentence for the gruesome murder.
Stephanie's sister Shona Hancock, 20, who lives in Banbury, Oxfordshire, said the family was satisfied with the result of the court case although they realised Caswell could be free in little more than ten years.
Shona said: "We are glad it is all over and Stephanie can now rest in peace."
Caswell also admitted assault causing grievous bodily harm on a boy who cannot be named for legal reasons. He denied the attempted murder of a girl, who also cannot be named.
Nick Atkinson, mitigating, said Caswell had smoked cannabis almost every day since he was 17.
He said the constant drug abuse had worsened an anti-social personality disorder.
"It continued to maintain him in an unreal cloud of existence," said Mr Atkinson, who added that Caswell suffered from low self-esteem and poor coping skills.
Sentencing, the judge, Mr Justice Poole said: "She died of strangulation. Your reaction was that you felt relief and felt you had done her a favour. You had not done her a favour.
"You suffered abnormality of mind associated with cannabis abuse but it was not abnormal enough to impair your responsibility for carrying out the killing."
The judge ordered a not-guilty plea to be entered on the attempted murder charge of the boy.
He said the similar charge against the girl should remain on file.
After the case neighbours spoke of their shock that something so awful could happen in their quiet cul-de-sac.
Telesales operator Greg Heaton, 17, who lived on the top floor of the block of flats had become a close friend with Caswell.
"I can't believe what happened. I would not expect him to do that to his girlfriend.
"I remember I used to take their shopping in and spend evenings round his flat.
"They seemed to be getting on all right. Stephanie was a nice lady, always smiling. I'm sure she will be missed."
Cara MacDowall, spokeswoman for the UK's leading drugs charity Drugscope, said: "While the vast majority of cannabis users use the drug with no long-term detrimental effects it's important to remember that for some, cannabis can be a harmful drug that can lead to panic attacks, paranoia and confused feelings."
https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/5600053.killers-chilling-promise-to-victim/
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 14, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories MurderTags boyfriend, England, Southern Daily Echo, teenagersLeave a comment on Killer's chilling promise to victim
Express & Star | 24 Nov 2016 |
A 27-year-old father of two stabbed his drug dealer through the heart after voices in his head told him to rob the man, a jury heard…
He said he was relying on a £10-a-day cannabis habit to resolve the mental problems and had been buying drugs from Mr Price for a couple of months before the stabbing which occured [sic] on September 27 2014.
The following month, David Watkins, then 27, was found guilty of the murder of Josh Price, and sentenced to life in prison: https://www.expressandstar.com/news/crime/2016/12/07/josh-price-murder-man-guilty-of-murdering-wolverhampton-father-after-drug-deal-went-wrong/
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 13, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories MurderTags drug dealer, England, Express & StarLeave a comment on Josh Price murder trial
Liverpool Echo | 26 Feb 2018 |
Giving evidence for the first time today, he told a jury how he had smoked cannabis since the age of 11 and described himself as sometimes not sleeping for three nights due partly to drug abuse.
On 2 Mar 2018, the defendant, 17, was found guilty of murder. The following month, he was sentenced to life in prison and revealed to be Cameron Cruddace.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/face-teen-who-murdered-oap-14585335
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 11, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories MurderTags England, familial violence, Liverpool Echo, teenagerLeave a comment on Teenager who bludgeoned OAP to death claimed he was "scared" of 8 stone victim
Liverpool Echo | 8 Mar 2017 |
Julian Linskill, defending the other 16-year-old, said the attack came after they smoked £90 of cannabis.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/schoolboys-recorded-themselves-brutally-assaulting-12713275
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 11, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories ViolenceTags England, Liverpool Echo, racialist, teenagersLeave a comment on Schoolboys recorded themselves brutally assaulting shopkeeper in sickening racist attack
Remember these pitiful punishments, all from south London in March this year, next time somebody tells you there is a 'war' on drugs in Britain:
Jamal Musse, 22, of Clay Avenue in Mitcham, was ordered to pay £265 and to forfeit his drugs after he was found with cannabis on Clapham Road on February 23 and for refusing a breathalyser test at Woodgreen Police Station.
Kirk Anthony Reid, 21, of Kimberley Road in Lambeth, was ordered to pay £90 and had to forfeit drugs after he was found with cannabis on Alphabet Mews on February 23.
Joseph Sseruwo, 25, of Peabody Avenue in Pimlico , was ordered to pay £90 and to forfeit drugs after he was found with herbal cannabis on Clapham Road on February 23.
Kadeem Omar Vidal, 24, of Prague Place in Clapham, was ordered to pay £365 and to forfeit drugs after he was found with 633mg of cannabis and six grams of crack on Prague Place on February 24.
Dwayne Russell, 17, Laburnam Road in Mitcham, was ordered to pay £160 and to forfeit drugs after he was found with cannabis on February 23 at the Old Bailey.
Federico Euston Smith, 30, of Oak Avenue in Croydon, was ordered to pay £165 and had to forfeit herbal cannabis he was found with on Lodge Lane in New Addington on February 20 at 3.35pm.
Jaiden Rashaan James, 19, of Selhurst New Road in South Norwood , was ordered to pay £214.99 and forfeit cannabis he was found with on St James New Road on February 21.
Mustafa Aziz, 22, of Donnybrook Road in Streatham, was ordered to pay £315 and to forfeit cannabis and cocaine discovered on him on Tanworth Road in Croydon on February 22 after failing to stop his car when asked to by police on Roman Way.
Winston Weir, 45, of Charlotte Despard Avenue in Wandsworth , was ordered to pay £105, given a year-long conditional discharge and made to forfeit his cannabis after he was found with it in Croydon on February 24.
Emma Jane Miskin, 41, of Edgeworth Road in Eltham, was ordered to pay £470 and made to forfeit her drugs after she was found with a small block of cannabis resin and MDMA at her home on October 10 2018.
Jahnine Chambers, 20, from Greenwich, was given a year-long conditional discharge, ordered to pay £20 and to forfeit her drugs after she was found with one joint of cannabis on a pathway near Slade Green Road on February 2.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/croydon-sutton-wandsworth-bromley-bexley-16066201
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 11, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories De facto decriminalisation, OpinionTags England, LondonLeave a comment on Punishments that don't deter, part 94
Last month a 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named, was found guilty of murdering a stranger in London and sentenced to six years in prison. The case has all the hallmarks – random, unprovoked, savage – of a young mind deranged from smoking cannabis, but, once again, nobody has bothered to investigate (or, if they have, report) whether the boy, aged 16 at the time of the murder, has ever taken mind-altering drugs.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/north-london-news/teenager-jailed-after-stabbing-chingford-16218891
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 11, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories Drugs? What drugs?Tags England, London, Murder, unprovokedLeave a comment on Yet another mad, 'motive-less' murder in which nobody asks about drugs
Here's a good example of a news outlet failing to mention cannabis in a report of a conviction for murder.
Last month, two men were found guilty of shooting a 22-year-old man named Hashim Ali at point blank range as he was sitting in a car in Hayes. In both its report on the conviction (Hayes murder trial: How jury convicted two friends of shooting Hashim Ali to death) and, a week later, the sentencing (Hashim Ali's murderers jailed for a minimum of 30 years each over fatal shooting in Hayes), My London failed to mention what it reported in some detail a week prior to the conviction, which is that the two men had smoked cannabis the day of the murder, but were disappointed in the quality (Friends accused of murdering Hashim Ali in Hayes blame each other for shooting him through the heart).
My London is not alone in this. Most news outlets in their reports of the conviction mention only 'drug dealing', failing, or refusing, to see that it is the effect of cannabis on the mind, not a desire to control the trade in it, that is a more significant factor in this act of cold-blooded murder. Such selective reporting, sadly, is common.
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 4, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories MurderTags drug dealer, England, firearm, London, My LondonLeave a comment on Two cannabis smokers murder young man in London
My London | 26 May 2019 |
Mukhtar Mohamed was carrying five bags of cannabis and a 14-inch bladed sword (Image: Met Police)
A stop and search in High Street, West Ealing revealed a man had been carrying a sword with a 14-inch blade tucked into his waistband.
Mukhtar Mohamed had been stopped at around 4.30pm on December 5, 2018 during Met Police 's Operation Wolverine, which targets knife crime.
Mohamed, was not only carrying the huge 14-inch blade but also had five snap bags of cannabis.
The 23-year-old from Canham Road, Acton , was taken to Acton Police station, arrested and charged with possession of cannabis and possession of an offensive weapon.
He was bailed to Ealing Magistrates' Court on New Year's Eve 2018, where he pleaded not guilty to both offences.
Due to legal discussions, the case was not taken to trial until Monday, May 13 at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court where again Mohamed professed his innocence.
However police were able to supply bodycam footage of their stop and search, convincing the court Mohamed was in fact guilty of both charges that same day. He was jailed for six months by magistrates.
https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/locked-up-london-criminals-who-16332084
Author Ross GraingerPosted on June 4, 2019 June 20, 2019 Categories Knives and cannabisTags England, knives, London, My LondonLeave a comment on Young man jailed for possessing 14-inch blade and cannabis
Xixi Bi Llandaff murder: Jordan Matthews jailed for life
BBC News | 21 Feb 2017 |
He accepted he was smoking "quite a lot" of cannabis at the time and the court heard he felt "insecure" when his girlfriend visited her family in China.
A jealous man who murdered his girlfriend after getting "paranoid" about her being unfaithful to him has been jailed for at least 18 years.
Xixi Bi, 24, died in hospital after the attack by Jordan Matthews, 24, at their flat in Llandaff, Cardiff, in August.
He was sentenced to life at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday and must serve at least 18 years after being found guilty by a jury last week.
Judge Nicola Davies said Matthews had relentlessly attacked Miss Bi.
The assault was the "tragic culmination" of a course of physical and verbal abuse over a number of months, Judge Davies said.
Her brother, Zexun Bi, said "the heart has been ripped out of our family".
Barman Matthews admitted manslaughter but denied the murder of Miss Bi, a post-graduate student at Cardiff Metropolitan University.
She suffered 41 injuries as a result of the attack, including a broken jaw and ribs.
In a victim impact statement, her brother said his sister had been due to run their family's multimillion-pound company and had the "whole world in front of her".
"No sentence imposed will ever reflect the heartache and pain he has inflicted upon my family," it read.
"Xixi will always be in our hearts, no matter how broken they are."
During the trial, the court heard Matthews, who said he had a black belt in karate, regularly beat Miss Bi and called her "worthless".
Matthews said he hit Miss Bi, believing she had cheated on him, and cried when he was later told she was dead.
He said he became "paranoid" about Miss Bi being unfaithful to him and believed she had received a message from someone called Ben on the Tinder dating app.
Miss Bi did not have the Tinder app or any contacts called Ben.
Christopher Henley QC, defending, said Matthews "misses her, he loved her, but he accepts that the way he treated her was atrocious".
Judge Davies said: "Xixi provided you with a home, clothing, she bought a car for you. You took what she gave.
"You lied and lied again in order to attempt to exculpate yourself from the overwhelming evidence which was that during the early hours of August 19 2016 you relentlessly and remorselessly inflicted physical injury upon a defenceless young woman."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-39026270
Author Ross GraingerPosted on April 4, 2019 June 28, 2019 Categories MurderTags BBC, England, girlfriend, paranoiaLeave a comment on Xixi Bi Llandaff murder: Jordan Matthews jailed for life