Harrow killer may never be freed

William Jaggs, 23, was sent to Broadmoor special hospital indefinitely after admitting Lucy Braham's manslaughter.

His plea of not guilty of murder was accepted on the grounds of diminished responsibility through mental illness. The court heard Jaggs stabbed Miss Braham, 25, some 66 times and tried to saw her body in half. He later told doctors he had killed her because he believed it was the same as having sex with her.

When police found the fashion designer's naked body in a pool of blood on her kitchen floor, Jaggs - who was also naked - stabbed himself 24 times to try to kill himself.

The Old Bailey was told that Jaggs and Miss Braham were children of masters at Harrow School in north-west London. They lived a few doors apart near to the school but did not know each other well.

Miss Braham's father Jason made an embittered attack on Jaggs at the Old Bailey where he told the judge that the killer had "descended into the gutter". Mr Braham said Jaggs had the same privileges in life as his beautiful daughter - but the depraved killer "spat in the face of everyone who had given him his advantages".

Miss Braham was nicknamed "the ray of sunshine" by her family. "Lucy worked hard, looked down on no one, gave her friendship unconditionally and never requested the sort of expensive trappings often associated with affluent young people," he said.

By contrast, Jaggs was "weak-willed, emotionally immature, morally vacant and criminally inclined".

Mr Braham was art director at the £24,850-a-year school and her mother Julienne was an artist. Jaggs's father Alan was a design teacher at the school. The families had known each other for many years.

The judge, Mr Justice Bean, told Jaggs he might never be released. The judge said to him: "You should realise that it may never be safe to release you."