Update: K!ller of 14-year-old British-Nigerian boy, Daniel Anjorin attacked him after cannabis ‘triggered a psychotic episode

A man who k!lled a British-Nigerian schoolboy after attacking him with a samurai sword and left four others seriously injured carried out the attack after cannabis ‘triggered a psychotic episode’, a court has heard. Marcus Monzo, 37, of West Beckton, Newham, is accused of murdering 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin while he was on his way to school in Hainault, east London on April 30 last year. Monzo is also accused of the attempted murders of female police officer PC Yasim Mechem-Whitfield, 35-year-old IT engineer Henry De Los Rios Polina, Sindy Arias and Donato Iwule, who was hit by his van. Brazilian amateur musician and ‘mystic’ Monzo, is further accused of a count of causing grevious bodily harm to Sindy Arias and Henry De Los Rios Polina with a katana style sword, wounding with intent, and possession of a bladed article. On the opening day of the trial, the court heard that a post-mortem ruled Daniel died of an ‘unsurvivable’ injury to the neck. ‘This was an unsurvivable injury and was essentially a near decapitation of Daniel’s head,’ the jury was told.  Before setting out on his rampage, Monzo also k!lled, skinned and ‘deboned’ his cat. A police search of his home found the animal, as well as cannabis.  At 6.51am he then attacked his first victim with the van whilst high on the drug before ‘chopping’ the innocent schoolboy to death and shouting ‘Does anyone believe in God’ as he attacked four strangers.  Introducing the case, prosecutor Tom Little, KC, said: ‘This case involved a brutal string of attacks with murderous intent primary committed with the use of a large sword.  It occurred over a period of only about 20 minutes early in morning of 30 April last year in Hainault. ‘One of those who was attacked was k!lled – the others were injured with various degrees of severity but the prosecution say there was a clear intention to k!ll a number of people that morning on the defendant’s part. It did not matter who they were or indeed how old they were. ‘Daniel Anjorin, the boy that was murdered did not know the defendant. He was just 14 years of age at the time. ‘He left home just before or at 7 o’clock in the morning. He was simply walking to school minding his own business, no doubt looking forward to the day ahead at school when he was killed by the defendant. ‘His life was snuffed out in an instant, in fact most accurately he was slain by the defendant with the use of a sword. ‘The force used was extreme. It involved a devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left-hand side of his face and neck. Others were also attacked by the defendant with that sword that morning.’ Daniel was the youngest of three children from a local, church-going Nigerian family. The prosecutor continued: ‘Daniel Anjorin was not the first person to be attacked. The first was someone called Donato Iwule. ‘He was deliberately driven into by the defendant in his van. In order to do so he drove at speed directly at him – knocking him into a garden before the defendant then got out of his van and attacked him with the same sword striking him to the neck. ‘Donato Iwule also did not know the defendant. If he had not managed to escape it seems almost inevitable that he too would have been k!lled. ‘Following that first attack the emergency services were called by members of the public who had witnessed what had taken place on the street. ‘Police rushed to the scene and the third victim was PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield. ‘She bravely pursued the defendant through a series of alleyways behind the residential properties in the area where the first two attacks had taken place the defendant was still armed with that large sword,’ said Mr Little. ‘She too could easily have been killed by the ferocious attack upon her. She was struck three times causing significant injuries.’ Mr Iwule ‘miraculously’ received only minor injuries from the vehicle collision but was stabbed in the neck. PC Mechem-Whitfield was stabbed to the head, shoulder and forearm.Monzo had bought a samurai sword a month before the killing and cannabis was identified in his blood and urine samples after the killing. An ambulance arrived on the scene just after Monzo delivered the fatal blow to Daniel ‘like a predator’, the court heard. Mr Little said: ‘As they approached the body of Daniel, the defendant approached the ambulance with his sword, striking the ambulance and forcing them to retreat away from the scene and preventing them attending to Daniel. ‘When they were able to attend to Daniel it was clear that he had suffered very significant injuries.’ CPR was attempted at the scene and Daniel was taken to the Royal London Hospital, but his life was pronounced extinct at 8.48am. ‘Police vehicles began to arrive at the scene from 7.03am onwards. They also attended to Daniel. As they began to do so the defendant appeared out of the bushes and approached the officers, brandishing his sword. ‘Police officers shouted at the defendant. He was told on a number of occasions to drop his sword. He did not do so. Pepper spray was deployed and they implored him to drop the sword. ‘The defendant did not do so. One a number of occasions he asked if anyone believes in god. This was a regular refrain by him.’ He recoiled from the pepper spray but ran away, chased by PC Cameron King and PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield. As PC Mechem-Whitfield got close to him in an alleyway Monzo stepped out and attacked her. ‘He raises the sword above his right shoulder, swings it towards her and the body of the officer falls towards the wall of the house. ‘She extends her taser towards him. He then strikes her again with the sword. He raises the sword again to strike her yet again and does so. Dr Chin, instructed by the defence, argues Monzo was suffering from a pre-existing condition, schizotypal disorder, which made him vulnerable to psychotic episodes prompted by his use of cannabis. Mr Little said: ‘Professor Blackwood, who will be called by the prosecution, does not agree with Dr Chin. ‘Important to his opinion is that the defendant has no family history of mental illness or criminality. ‘The defendant had no contact with respect to mental health concerns with his GP or psychiatric services before the offences. ‘In Professor Blackwood’s opinion cannabis misuse appears to have been the principal driver of his mental state deterioration at this time. ‘The assaults were informed by his delusional beliefs that he and his family were in mortal danger, and that he was engaged in a battle against evil forces at time of revelation or Armageddon. ‘His psychosis continued to obtain on remand at HMP Belmarsh. There was then a period of treatment in Broadmoor Hospital which was complicated by a finding of positive urinary drug screen for synthetic cannabinoids at the point of entry to Broadmoor.’ Professor Blackwood argued Monzo developed ‘a cannabis induced fully fledged psychotic episode’. He argues Monzo was capable of curtailing his cannabis use and aware of the risks. ‘The violence would not, in Professor Blackwood’ opinion, have happened in the absence of such voluntary substance misuse,’ Mr Little said. Drug-induced psychosis is not a recognised medical condition and cannot alone establish diminished responsibility, he said. Psychiatrists will discuss whether Monzo met the threshold for a schizotypal disorder diagnosis, he added. The trial was adjourned until Monday.            The post Update: K!ller of 14-year-old British-Nigerian boy, Daniel Anjorin attacked him after cannabis ‘triggered a psychoticepisode appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.