Jacob Billington: Mother whose son was stabbed to death by paranoid schizophrenic reacts to inquest verdict

A mother whose son was murdered by a paranoid schizophrenic has condemned the “catastrophic” decision to release his killer from prison.

Jacob Billington, 23, was one of eight victims of knifeman Zephaniah McLeod in a series of “brutal” attacks in Mexico He stabbed seven other people, causing serious and life-changing injuries. birmingham September 2020 in the city center.

Joanne Billington, responding to the coroner’s verdict Friday that her son was unlawfully killed, said multiple failures by agencies had left McLeod – whom she described as a “violent” and “dangerous” individuals—are released from prison and executions proceed. attack.

She said: “My son Jacob was a wonderful young man who died in horrific circumstances at the hands of a man with severe mental illness. “It’s every parent’s nightmare – it became Our reality.”

McLeod admitted manslaughter and had reduced responsibility for the killing, Sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years at Birmingham Crown Court in 2021manslaughter, four counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

A sentencing hearing in 2021 heard he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2013 but “never” received appropriate treatment.

Ms Billington said: “Throughout the sentencing and serious case review process we found the offender was well known to all the institutions where we expect to keep the public safe. He never complied with any of the services provided and refused to take his medication.

“He was released from prison without supervision after completing his sentence, there was no effective release plan for this dangerous man and the risk to the public was never seriously considered.

“The service was so failed that it was not known where he was or even what city he was in.

“We also found that McLeod had been placed on enhanced public protection arrangements but was removed from this arrangement six months before his release simply because he failed to comply with this procedure.

“This is a catastrophic decision that means many effective measures to monitor McLeod are removed.

“This dangerous man, who suffered from severe and enduring mental illness and whose risk to the public was well documented, simply walked out of prison and disappeared.”

Mr Billington, a musician who worked at Sheffield Hallam University, was a “funny, caring, wonderful guy who was liked by everyone he met”, His family said in a statement after his death.

Police said Mr Billington was stabbed in Irving Street at around 1.52am while out with classmates from Liverpool to visit one of the group, who were studying in Birmingham.

A report released last year following an NHS inquiry Four missed opportunities by authorities to better understand McLeod’s risks identifiedShe posed with a long history of violent crime and failure to take her prescribed medications.

It is alleged that five months before he carried out the attack, McLeod was released from HMP Parc in South Wales at the end of his sentence and was not subject to any form of supervision and had no obligation to engage with agencies such as the police if they were to provide him with any support.” .

McLeod’s first contact with police was in 2007, when he was 14 and received a caution.

In 2018, McLeod told a psychiatrist that he “heard male and female voices telling him to ‘kill them…stab them…they were talking about you’.”

He spent much of his time in prison between 2011 and 2020 for a series of violent crimes. During that time, he “did not receive appropriate treatment and medication,” the report said.

After his release in April 2020, there was no record of where he went, and by July he was considered “out of service.”

He contacted a GP in August 2020 and was referred non-urgently to Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust, where he was given an appointment on 3 September.

After McLeod refused to attend, a new date was set for September 24. By then he had launched his attack.