Paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed lecturer to death given life sentence
A "dangerous" paranoid schizophrenic has been jailed for life for stabbing a university lecturer to death in a random attack.
Mark Loveridge, 39, had been cared for in the community since 2015 even though he had a history of violence and drug abuse which made his mental health worse.
He had stopped taking medication before he carried out unprovoked knife attacks on two young men as they made their way to work on January 19 last year.
Daniel Young, 30, died after being stabbed in the stomach in a park near Morden Tube station in south London.
After his arrest, the defendant claimed he was being "framed" but eventually admitted his involvement once damning DNA evidence linked him to the crimes.
He pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Young by diminished responsibility and to wounding the second victim, Kamil Bulat, with intent to cause him grievous bodily harm.
Judge Mark Lucraft QC rejected a defence plea for a hospital order, saying Loveridge was a "dangerous" man and posed a "high risk" in the future.
He handed Loveridge a life sentence with a minimum term of 15 years, which will be served in Broadmoor psychiatric hospital until he is well enough to be transferred to jail.
