Anthony Banting murder: Man guilty of manslaughter
- Published
Alaeldien Ahmed was caught on CCTV before the tram stabbing
A man who stabbed a father 50 times as he got off a tram has been found guilty of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Alaeldien Ahmed killed 57-year-old Anthony Banting in Winson Green, Birmingham on 31 March. Mr Banting was stabbed in the head, chest and back.
Ahmed, 27, of Eva Road, Winson Green, who is an asylum seeker, was cleared of murder at Birmingham Crown Court.
He will be sentenced at the same court on 9 March.
The court heard Mr Banting had been on his way to meet his son in the pub when he was killed.
He died on a footpath within three minutes of getting off the tram at Soho Benson Road Metro stop.
Ahmed left Sudan, where he said he was tortured, in 2015 and claimed asylum in the UK after crossing the Mediterranean in an inflatable boat and travelling from Calais in a lorry.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia and had spent several months in a secure unit in hospital in Birmingham.
The court heard he had called his medical team on the day of the stabbing because he was suffering from delusions and headaches.
He was diagnosed with a higher dosage of anti-psychotic drugs, but it was not thought his condition warranted a return to a secure mental health unit.
Det Ch Insp Paul Langley, from British Transport Police, said Mr Banting "will have had no idea that he was going to bump into the defendant who went on to commit the most atrocious attack".
"There's no indication that these two knew each other. It was just a completely random and unprovoked attack."
- 8 February 2018
- 18 January 2018
