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Knife murderer made paranoid by skunk is jailed for 20 years
Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent27.03.09
A DRUG addict who stabbed a teenager to death in a crowded street after being driven paranoid by cannabis was jailed for a minimum of 20 years at the Old Bailey today.
Imran Khan, 21, stabbed complete stranger Devoe Roach, 17, through the heart in Stamford Hill exactly a year ago as the two passed each other.
CCTV cameras captured the moment. Khan - who has previous convictions for knife crime - was quickly identified and arrested six days later. Subsequently he told police that he always carried a knife in public.
His lawyer, Philip Sutton, said his family had repeatedly tried to get treatment for him when they became concerned about his mental state.
The court was also told that Khan had developed paranoid psychosis, "aggravated by the long-term consumption of skunk cannabis", which led to his having "misconceptions about the level of threat" he faced but it did not affect his "ability to react appropriately".
Judge Giles Forrester told Khan it was his own fault that he smoked skunk cannabis that had exacerbated his illness and triggered the killing.
Khan, of Stamford Hill, admitted killing Mr Devoe, of Stoke Newington, but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
However, the jury found him guilty of murder by 10 to two.
Imposing a life sentence today, the judge said: "This case illustrates that when you are out and about walking the streets you pose a particularly grave danger to members of the public.
"The public is entitled to look to the courts for protection against such erratic, random and unpredictable behaviour resulting in the death of a passer-by in the street."
Reader views (3)
If he had been locked up for his previous offences for knife crime for a substantial period he would have been separated from the drug suppliers,and taken of the streets and this guys innocent life would have not been taken,once again a innocent person has been the victim of a lenient and incomprehensibly idiotic justice system called British justice.
- Kev, London-UK
I don't know whether cannabis can cause psychosis deep enough to turn a decent man into a killer.
What I am sure of is that drugs pushers cause the deaths of many of those that they peddle to, and not a few who merely come into contact with the addicts they create. I'd feel far more comfortable if it was a pusher getting life, rather than a man who might have been insane at the time he killed. Call it reasonable certainty versus reasonable doubt.
- Nigel, London
Looks like the jurors recognised a plea bargain whe they saw one. They did not believe caabis caused a mental illness (it doesn't, although some schizophrenics use cannabis as a relief for some of the symptoms) and found Khan guilty. But of course, this constant linking of marijuana with crazed killers cheapens the debate, introduces emotive red herrings and is a tremendous disservice to sane, sensible drug advice.
- Steven Allcott., Borough
