UK man found guilty of teenager's murder in London sword rampage
FILE PHOTO: A funeral director carries a floral tribute inset with a photograph of Daniel Anjorin, 14, following his funeral service at Jubilee Church in Ilford, east London, Britain, following his funeral service. Picture date: Friday May 17, 2024. Jonathan Brady/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
LONDON - A man who killed a 14-year-old boy in London during a rampage with a sword was found guilty of murder on Wednesday.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, nearly decapitated schoolboy Daniel Anjorin during a 20-minute series of attacks in Hainault, east London, in April last year, in which he also assaulted several other people including police officers.
Prosecutors said Monzo killed and skinned his cat before driving his van at a pedestrian and slicing him with the sword, murdering Daniel and then trying to murder a police officer.
He then broke into a house and attacked a sleeping couple in bed before leaving after their child began to cry, finally wounding a second police officer before his arrest.
London police chief Mark Rowley heralded the "extraordinary bravery" of his officers on the day, two of whom were left with life-changing injuries as they tried to apprehend Monzo.
"Our colleagues, desperate to protect the community, ran towards an erratic and violent man who had just killed a young child and injured many others," he said.
Monzo said he did not remember having carried out the attacks and his lawyers argued he should not be found guilty of murder as he was suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis.
Prosecutor Tom Little, however, argued at the start of Monzo's trial at the Old Bailey that "self-induced intoxication" did not provide a defence to the charge of murder.
Monzo was convicted of Daniel's murder by a jury.
He was also convicted of other charges, including three counts of attempted murder, for which there is no partial defence of diminished responsibility. REUTERS
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