Man lawfully killed by son of stabbing victim, coroner rules

Jonathan London, 46, fatally attacked Sandra Crawford in her home before being stabbed to death by her teenage son

A mechanical engineer who believed he was being controlled by radio waves and fatally attacked a woman in her home, before being stabbed by her teenage son, was lawfully killed.

Jonathan London, 46, went to his GP with his mother over fears for his mental state the day before Sandra Crawford was attacked in front of her son, James Killen, who tried to protect her.

Crawford, 53, later died in hospital from stab wounds to her chest and neck. London suffered 16 stab wounds, including one that punctured his lung, and died at the scene in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Today an inquest into both deaths heard London had epilepsy. After complaining about high-pitched noises and believing he was possessed by robots, he was taken to hospital by his family the day before the attack in April over concerns his medication was having a negative effect on him.

He was referred to the mental health team, with his family describing him as rambling and talking to walls, and was allowed to stay with his brother, but visited his parents, who lived next door to Crawford and her son, the following day.

In a statement Killen, who was 18 at the time, told the inquest he was drying his hair when he heard his mother scream "get out of my house" and ran downstairs.

"I saw a man lying on top of my mother punching her and screaming 'die, die, die'. I jumped on his back and started punching him in the head a few times. I'm pretty sure I saw a knife, I'm pretty sure I saw him stab my mum with a knife."

He said he tried to grab the knife, but London was much stronger. "I went into the kitchen and got a knife and stabbed him. He would not stop going at my mother. I stabbed him a few more times but he kept on going at my mother."

Psychiatrist Dr Seshni Moodliar, who had examined him, said London was delusional and possibly schizophrenic, but was not aggressive or self-harming, and she was comfortable his family could look after him until a crisis assessment and treatment team could see him the next day.

Jocelyn Cusack, a psychiatric nurse who examined him at the Watford hospital, said "he was the most delusional patient I have seen in 20 years of working in mental health".

Hertfordshire coroner Edward Thomas said it was a tragedy for both families. London's family said in a statement he was "always a gentle and placid man who was sadly suffering from a severe mental illness at the time of this terrible tragedy".

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