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Teenage killer's mental illness caused by drug
Anna Davis, Evening Standard15.10.07
Ezekiel Maxwell, 18, was sent to a secure mental health unit after he stabbed Carmelita Tulloch to death on her way to work in south London.
Maxwell, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, said he started hearing voices after smoking skunk.
He killed the 51-year-old in Kennington after he stopped taking his medication for paranoid schizophrenia. He also smoked large amounts of powerful skunk cannabis before the attack in September last year.
His psychiatrist said he believed that Maxwell suffered a rapid deterioration in his condition brought on by his use of skunk cannabis.
Maxwell had met doctors six days before killing Mrs Tulloch and was due to see them again to review hiscondition the day after he stabbed her.
The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the attack, was referred by his GP to his local mental health trust after his mother contacted the doctor when she became alarmed by changes in his behaviour.
Maxwell has been committed to a medium secure unit under the Mental Health Act and cannot be released without permission of the Home Secretary, or a mental health tribunal.
