A MAN has been detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act after admitting stabbing a father-of-three to death in a frenzied attack in Selsdon.
Ephraim Norman, 24, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Andrew Else in an alleyway near Selsdon Park Road on April 24, 2014.
The Old Bailey heard today (Friday) that Norman, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed the 52-year-old from Pixton Way, Forestdale, more than 200 times over seven minutes.
Norman, of Kensington Avenue, Thornton Heath also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a 15-year-old boy in Beulah Hill on April 6, 2014 - just weeks before the attack on Mr Else.
That attack left the victim, now 16, with a knife blade embedded in the bottom of his skull. Miraculously he survived.
He was detained under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, with a further requirement that he cannot be released without the consent of the Home Secretary.
Alan Kent QC, prosecuting, told the court Norman was hearing voices in his head which told him to kill.
When one knife he was carrying bent, Norman used another to continue stabbing Mr Else, who pleaded "Why are you doing this?"
The court heard he had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication because the side effects "made it difficult for him to maintain an erection".
"He wanted to to have sex with a girl or girlfriends but it wasn't possible so he stopped taking the medication," said Mr Kent.
Referring to the attack on Mr Else, he added: "On evening of April 24 the defendant left his home address with two knives.
"He boarded a bus and in due course saw Mr Else on the bus.
"Mr Else was a complete stranger to him. This was a completely random attack on a stranger to this defendant.
"As the defendant was to later say to police in interview, he chose Mr Else because the voices were telling him to kill somebody.
"When the bus stopped at the place where Mr Else wanted to get off, he did get off, the defendant followed him.
"The defendant goes to the area next to Selsdon park Road, where the attack on Mr Else started and finished.
"The defendant stabbed Mr Else forcing him to the ground.
"Once Mr Else was on the ground the defendant repeatedly stabbed him.
"His actions were seen by two members of the public who were from a vehicle recovery company.
"They were driving slowly along Selsdon Park Road and saw the defendant attacking Mr Else."
One of the men phoned the police.
Mr Kent said: "During the period, he [Norman] continued to stab Mr Else.
"He looked up occasionally and saw that he was being observed. It didn't stop him from stabbing Mr Else. He continued even after police arrived."
The witness was on the phone to police for seven minutes, the court heard.
Judge Anthony Morris ordered that Norman be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act. He may only be released with the consent of the Home Secretary.
"This is a tragic case in every sense of the word," he said.
"This defendant, who is now 24 years of age, appears to have been in reasonably good health until the age of 20 or 21 when he started to develop paranoid schizophrenia.
"Since then he had had three episodes which have led him to be admitted to a mental hospital, of which the present one is by far the most serious."
Norman was under the care of South London and Maudsley (SLaM) NHS Trust at the time of both attacks.
He denied murdering Mr Else and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted his guilty manslaughter plea.
Judge Morris continued: "The main feature of his mental disorder is auditory hallucinations, or voices in his head, commanding him in this case to kill members of the public.
"Tragically for Andrew Else, a respectable man, he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"The defendant followed Mr Else when he got off his bus and then carried out the most savage imaginable attack on him, inflicting more than 200 stab wounds in his back, sides and chest.
"I recognise that his family must find it impossible to come to terms with the fact that Mr Else became the victim of such a terrible crime."
In her victim impact statement, Mr Else's wife described her husband as a "kind, generous man who can never be replaced".
She added: "He would have helped anyone if they had asked for anything. He would have given his last penny."
