Why was he here – and free to kill?
Schizophrenic admits knife rampage after medics said he was just ‘moody and anxious’
A PARANOID schizophrenic was free to kill an American tourist in a knife rampage after mental health workers ruled he was just ‘moody and anxious’.
The family of Zakaria Bulhan, 19, who was in Britain under European Union freedom of movement regulations, had sent him to NHS experts for help – but they simply referred him back to his GP.
Four months later he stabbed retired teacher Darlene Horton, 64, to death and attempted to kill five others on a summer evening in a London square.
Witnesses said the attacker had a ‘crazed smile’ on his face as he ‘skipped’ through crowds of tourists.
Within minutes, police confronted Bulhan – still wielding a large knife – as he ran down a side street muttering the word ‘Allah’.
He was Tasered, making him fall to the ground, and arrested. In his pocket was an Islamic pamphlet titled: ‘Fortress of the Muslim’. Earlier that day Bulhan’s father had taken him to a mosque to seek help but the teenager ran away accusing worshippers of trying to ‘put spirits inside him’.
His family, who are originally from Somalia, moved to the UK in 2003 after being granted asylum in Norway. Norway is not a member of the EU, but accepts its freedom of movement rules as part of being a member of the European Economic Area. That means legal residents of Norway can settle in any EU country.
Yesterday Darlene Horton’s family said Bulhan should never be released from hospital after he admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility at the Old Bailey. They said he was on the streets as a result of ‘potentially unknowable deficiencies’ in the way the authorities identify and treat the mentally ill.
The case is the latest in a line of horrific attacks perpetrated by violent mentally-ill individuals left free to roam the streets.
Reports of a marauding knifeman sent central London into lockdown on August 3 last year. Armed police swamped Russell Square, close to the scene of the most deadly of the 7/7 bombings
‘Put spirits inside him’
11 years earlier. In scenes of chaos, they found six people with injuries, including mother-of-two Mrs Horton, who suffered a fatal heart wound.
The only British victim, Bernard Hepplewhite, 65, who had travelled to the West End to see a show, was stabbed in the stomach. Australian Lillie Sellentin, 23, who was returning to her hotel, suffered a glancing blow to the right of her ribs.
The other victims were American Martin Hoenisch, 59, Australian David Imber, 40, and Israeli Yovel Lewkowski, 18. Detectives could not find any terrorist motivation for Bulhan’s rampage but uncovered how his family were struggling with his behaviour, the court heard.
Norwegian-born Bulhan had moved to Tooting, South London, with his mother 13 years earlier. The school drop-out had been referred to his local mental health trust last March and was assessed on April 20.
East Wandsworth Mental Health Trust found he was not psychotic. It said he had mood and anxiety symptoms that should be treated by his GP. He received no further treatment.
After his arrest Bulhan told a psychiatrist he believed people were trying to kill him, the secret services were tracking him and he was possessed by demons.
He also spoke of hearing voices and claimed he picked up a knife to protect himself. ‘I kept running, the voices started changing. They manipulated me, they were cunning voices... I attacked the people because of the voices.’
South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust has commissioned an independent inquiry into what went wrong.
Bulhan faces an indeterminate hospital order or life in prison when sentenced today.