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| Widow’s killer faces a
life behind bars |
Paranoid schizophrenic was given
‘no real supervision’
A CARE in the community mental patient who stabbed a disabled
widow to death during a burglary at her Finsbury Park home has been
locked up indefinitely.
An investigation into the circumstances in which the killer was
allowed to roam free is expected to be launched.
As relatives of the victim wept, Old Bailey judge Martin Stephens
told killer Rodney Anyanwu on Friday: “It is of concern that
it was known you were sick and that you were not taking the medication
to control your impulses. Whether supervision was adequate, it is
for others to consider.”
Anyanwu, 37, a paranoid schizophrenic, attacked 82-year-old great-grandmother
Violetta Vella after bursting into her eighth-floor flat. He stabbed
the tiny pensioner twice in the neck and ransacked her home.
Anyanwu, of Arundel Place, Islington, killed Mrs Vella, described
by family and neighbours as having “a heart of gold”,
within an hour of leaving a hostel for community care patients.
Prosecutor James Dawson said Mrs Vella was stabbed with one of her
own kitchen knives on February 18, 2002, at her flat in Fyfield
block on the Six Acres estate, where she had lived for 30 years.
Anyanwu, who had her blood on his T-shirt and trainers, was traced
through DNA evidence. He admitted manslaughter and was cleared of
murder, due to diminished responsibility.
He was sent to Rampton maximum-security hospital “without limit
of time”.
It was his second appearance in the Old Bailey dock. In February
2003 a jury decided he was unfit to enter a plea and he was detained
under the Insanity Act.
The court was told on Friday that Anyanwu had refused to take anti-psychotic
medication prescribed for him. Drink and drugs made his mental condition
deteriorate.
A community health team had been assigned to monitor him. Mr Dawson
said: “He wasn’t seen or perceived by the team as a danger
to himself or to the public.”
Ian Jobling, defending, told the court: “There was no real
supervision. The outreach team could only see him 40 per cent of
the time.”
Judge Stephens told Anyanwu “You took the life of a remarkable
82-year-old lady who was deeply religious and much loved by her
family and the community. She could have lived for many more years.”
The area health authority is understood to be holding an inquiry
into the case. |
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