Jail for knife spree killer ‘lost in system’ in lockdown
Schizophrenic admits manslaughter and seven other stabbings in random attacks in Birmingham
A PARANOID schizophrenic who stabbed a university worker to death and wounded seven others in a latenight knife spree had been “lost in the system” after being released from prison at the height of lockdown, a judge said yesterday.
Zephaniah Mcleod was jailed for life after admitting the manslaughter of Jacob Billington, who was knifed to death in Birmingham last September.
The 28-year-old attempted to kill three others and stabbed four more victims across the city.
Mcleod, who had previous convictions for robbery, assault, supplying drugs and possessing an imitation firearm, was known to mental health services and had a history of hearing voices telling him to kill. But when he was released from prison in April 2020, at the height of the first lockdown, he was not offered any mental health support.
He finally had a face-to-face meeting on Sept 3 but refused to attend a psychiatric appointment and three days later he killed Mr Billington.
The victim’s mother, Joanne Billington, said mistakes had been made and that she hoped a forthcoming serious case review would offer genuine scrutiny of the agencies involved.
Shortly after midnight on Sept 6 2020, Mcleod began wandering the streets of central Birmingham attacking three people in a 20-minute spree.
After disposing of his weapon, he caught a taxi to his home in the Selly Oak area of the city where he obtained a second knife and went back out.
He stabbed five more people in just 10 minutes, picking victims at random and often aiming the knife at their neck. He left one woman fighting for life and another victim partially paralysed.
Ordering his detention at Ashworth Hospital, a psychiatric facility, Mr Justice Pepperall said: “Your victims were variously enjoying a night out or returning home from work. They gave you no offence and they were chosen at random.”
But the judge recognised alleged failings of the various agencies, which he said had left Mcleod lost in the system.
“I find you were released from prison in April 2020 at the height of the first wave of the Covid pandemic without any appropriate follow-up by mental health services.
“Indeed, given your past medical history, it is a matter of considerable concern you were simply lost in the system for some weeks,” he said.
The judge went on: “I have no doubt whatsoever you are a very dangerous man and pose a significant risk to members of the public of serious harm.”
Mcleod was told he would serve a minimum of 21 years and would be moved to a prison to serve the remainder of his term if his mental health improved sufficiently.
Paying tribute to her son, Mrs Billington said: “He was an absolutely fantastic young man … Things were going really well for Jacob at the time of his death.
“He was working at the university. He had a new girlfriend. He was just in a really good place.”
Supt Jim Munro of West Midlands Police said: “Mcleod does have previous convictions, some of those do include violence. However, he had been released from prison and wasn’t on any licence conditions having served the remainder of a sentence – at that time he was somebody who was known to police previously.”