Swordsman accused of murdering schoolboy ‘became psychotic after taking cannabis'

Yahoo

04-06-2025

A man who murdered a 14-year-old schoolboy with a Japanese sword experienced psychotic episodes after taking cannabis, a court has heard.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, believed 'he was in a battle against evil forces' when he allegedly stabbed Daniel Anjorin as he walked to school in Hainault, north-east London, on April 30 last year.
He is said to have 'moved quickly like a predator' behind Daniel before inflicting a 'devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury' to his face and neck.
The Spanish-Brazilian national, from Newham, east London, is also accused of attacking four others, including two police officers, during a 20-minute rampage.
He has denied eight of the 10 charges against him, including murder.
A trial at the Old Bailey heard on Wednesday that Mr Monzo's mental state had been 'materially altered' by cannabis use and, at the time of the alleged attack, he had 'developed a cannabis induced fully fledged psychotic episode characterised by reality distortion symptoms'.
Tom Little KC, prosecuting, said Mr Monzo was '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 a time of revelation or Armageddon'.
He said cannabis was identified in Mr Monzo's urine and blood samples after the incident and a 'large amount' of cannabis was also found in a search of his house along with a 'skinned and deboned cat'.
Mr Little, quoting forensic psychiatrist Prof Nigel Blackwood, who will later be called by the prosecution, said: 'In Prof Blackwood's opinion, cannabis misuse appears to have been the principal driver of his mental state deterioration at this time.
'The violence would not, in Prof Blackwood's opinion, have happened in the absence of such voluntary substance misuse.'
Mr Monzo appeared in the dock wearing a bright green jumper with short, cropped hair and stubble. He looked furtively around the court at times and spoke often to security guards sitting on either side of him. Daniel's family were also in the court.
Mr Little said Mr Monzo had left his home just before 6.30am in his van, wearing a yellow Quiksilver hoodie, black trousers, and black shoes.
He said the attack started at about 6.51am when he drove his van into Donato Iwule, a pedestrian in Laing Close, causing him to be 'catapulted some distance into a garden'.
Video footage of the incident was played to the jury, in which Mr Iwule, who had been walking to a Co-Op store where he worked, can be heard screaming in pain.
Mr Monzo allegedly then left the vehicle and approached Mr Iwule with a samurai sword.
Mr Little said: 'Donato Iwule shouted at him 'I don't know you' and the defendant said 'I don't care, I will kill you'.
'That comment from the defendant tells you, you may think, everything you need to know about his intention that morning.'
Mr Monzo is alleged to have swung his sword at Mr Iwule's neck and torso, but he was able to roll away and escape over a fence.
'If he had not managed to escape, it seems inevitable that he too would have been killed,' said Mr Little.
Mr Monzo is then said to have driven further down Laing Close before exiting the vehicle.
At this time, the court heard that Daniel had left his home and was walking to school wearing sports clothes, his backpack, and headphones.
Mr Little said: 'The defendant had obviously seen him and the defendant then moved quickly like a predator behind Daniel Anjorin.
'He lifted the sword above his head and then swung it downwards towards Daniel's head and neck area.
'Daniel instantly fell to the ground. The defendant then leant over him and used the sword again to injure Daniel.'
He added: 'The force used was extreme. It involved a devastating and unsurvivable chopping injury to the left-hand side of Daniel's face and neck'.
Mr Monzo is then said to have taken off Daniel's backpack, dragging the schoolboy's body along the road in the process.
The court heard that emergency services had been called to the scene at this time.
Mr Monzo is said to have then attacked Pc Yasmin Margaret Mechem-Whitfield, who pursued him down a series of alleyways behind residential properties while he was still armed.
He is then alleged to have entered a nearby house where he attacked a couple in their bedroom.
Mr Little said the couple's lives had been spared only because 'their four-year-old child woke up and started crying'.
He said there were many police officers in the area at that time, and that Mr Monzo then became 'surrounded in a garage area nearby to the other attacks', where he attacked another police officer.
Mr Monzo was finally disarmed and detained after he climbed onto the roof of the garage, he said.
Asked about the attack in a police interview, Mr Monzo said his personality switched and that 'something happened, like a game happening', and it was like 'the movie Hunger Games'.
Mr Little said: 'He said that one of his personalities is a professional assassin.'
In court last month, Mr Monzo denied eight of the 10 charges against him but admitted two counts of having an offensive weapon – a katana sword and a tanto katana sword.
He also pleaded not guilty to the attempted murders of Mr Iwule, Sindy Arias, Henry De Los Rios Polania and Pc Mechem-Whitfield as well as wounding Insp Moloy Campbell with intent.
Mr Monzo denied aggravated burglary and possession of a bladed article relating to a kitchen knife.
The trial continues.
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