Son's sentence for 'Face/Off' killings upheld
A man who killed his parents after telling police they had been replaced with imposters like in the film Face/Off has failed in a bid to have his sentence reduced.
Kamil Dantes, from Nottinghamshire, said he wished to "destroy" the imposters, claiming they were wearing his parents' faces as skin masks.
The sentencing judge said cannabis had induced psychotic behaviour.
He gave him a life sentence with a minimum term of 18 years.
The case reached the Appeal Court because his legal team challenged the length of the minimum term, but the appeal was rejected.
Lady Justice Hallett said: "These were the most brutal attacks on two innocent and virtually defenceless human beings.
"It was an impeccable sentencing exercise. No complaint can be made about the length of this minimum term."
'Exact motivations may never be known'
- On 2 June 2011 Kamil Dantes went to Worksop police station stating that his parents had been murdered 25 years ago and that "imposters" had replaced them while wearing their faces as skin masks. He mentioned Face/Off and said this had happened to his parents. He said he wished to destroy the imposters.
- He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and tested positive for cannabis and benzodiazepine. He later admitted smoking cannabis daily.
- He was discharged on 14 June 2011 and monitored in the community while taking medication for his illness.
- On 21 April 2014 he stabbed his mother 25-30 times and his father more than 20 times. He phoned 999 and said he had killed "two people". When police arrived he said the "two people" were dead and he did it in self-defence because they "attacked" him. The sentencing judge said his "exact motivations may never be known".
- A doctor said the most likely diagnosis of his condition was paranoid schizophrenia, and his misuse of drugs of had affected his mental health. Another doctor said he was suffering from a persistent delusion disorder.
Dantes, from Worksop, was originally charged with murder but the prosecution accepted his guilty pleas of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
The 29-year-old, now aged 31, was ordered to be detained in a psychiatric unit when he was sentenced on 20 July 2015.
His minimum term would have been 19 years and 73 days but was reduced to 17 years and 354 days because he had spent more than a year in custody by the time he was sentenced.
Lady Justice Hallett, sitting with Mr Justice Jeremy Baker and Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, rejected claims that Dantes received insufficient credit for his guilty pleas.
She dismissed arguments that the judge should have taken more account of his anguished history of mental health problems.
Lady Justice Hallett also noted that he had taken cannabis and amphetamines shortly before the killings, despite knowing that this could worsen his fragile condition.