An asylum seeker suffering from paranoid schizophrenia stabbed a man over 50 times at a tram stop in a random attack, a court has heard.<\/p>\n
Anthony Banting, 57, had got off a tram in Winson Green, Birmingham, on 31 March when he was stabbed in the head, chest and back.<\/p>\n
Alaeldien Ahmed was arrested during house-to-house inquiries and recognised from a CCTV image taken in the area.<\/p>\n
Mr Ahmed, 26, of Eva Road, Winson Green, denies murdering Mr Banting.<\/p>\n
Birmingham Crown Court heard that Mr Banting was on the way to meet one of his sons in the pub when he died.<\/p>\n
Three minutes after the father-of-four had got off the tram at Soho Benson Road Metro stop, he was lying dead on a footpath.<\/p>\n
Nobody witnessed the late afternoon attack, the court heard.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Alan Kent QC said: “It was, it would appear, a random and motiveless attack.”<\/p>\n
Mr Kent said Mr Ahmed left Sudan in 2015, crossing the Mediterranean in an inflatable boat.<\/p>\n
He ended up in Calais and travelled to the UK in a lorry before claiming asylum.<\/p>\n
The court heard Mr Ahmed was diagnosed with schizophrenia and spent several months in a secure mental unit at a Birmingham hospital.<\/p>\n
On the day of the murder, Mr Ahmed complained of headaches and said he felt everyone was looking and laughing at him, the jury were told.<\/p>\n
Mr Kent said a psychiatric team visited him at his home and increased the strength of his medicine.<\/p>\n
The trial continues.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"