Norwegian 19-year-old sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care for a knife killing in London

Russell SquarePolice forensic officers at work in Russell Square, central London, after a knife attack. A teenager has admitted killing a retired Florida teacher and injuring five other people in a stabbing rampage near the British Museum in London.Photo: (Yui Mok/PA via AP, file)

A Norwegian 19-year-old, who stabbed and killed an American tourist, and wounded five others in London, has been sentenced to compulsory psychiatric care by a British court.

The 19-year-old, who was born in Norway of Somali parents, moved to London in 2003. Since then, he has lived with his mother, one stepfather, and two siblings.

In August last year the young man perpetrated attacks on passers-by at Russell Square in London, armed with a large kitchen knife.

A 64 year old, American, female tourist was killed, and five others were wounded in the attack. The 19-year-old was shortly afterward overpowered, and arrested by police.

When his trial opened on Monday, the young man gave a full confession. Prosecutors simultaneously allowed the presentation of a forensic psychiatric report which concluded that the 19-year-old suffered from acute paranoid schizophrenia, which led
to the knife attack.

The young man had previously sought help for mental problems, including anxiety and depression, wrote The Guardian newspaper.

His mother was so worried about his aggression that she found it necessary to remove all knives from the kitchen, it emerged during the trial. He remembers nothing about the attack.

During the investigation, nothing was found to indicate that the man was radicalised, or had any terrorist motive.

‘The medical evidence is unambiguous’, said the judge, Robin Spencer, when concluding the case against him. He sentenced the 19-year-old to compulsory psychiatric care indefinitely.

‘It means that you will remain for a very long time at Broadmoor Hospital under maximum security conditions. If it ever becomes safe to transfer you to a hospital with lower security, you will probably also remain there for many years’, said Spencer when handing out the sentence.

‘Only after this, if it ever becomes possible, will you be able to live in society again, and only then under close monitoring’, the judge added.

 

Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today