MENTAL HEALTH PLEA LEADS TO INDEFINITE HOSPITAL STAY FOR WOOD GREEN KILLINGS
Achilleas Costa, aged 53 and without a permanent residence, carried out a violent stabbing assault in Wood Green, north London, on 27 November 2021.During the attack, he killed his partner, Fernanda Assis, who was 31, and her father, Joanilson Souza De Assis, aged 61.
The incident was described as particularly gruesome, with the court hearing details of the scene.
Costa believed that the victims had been transformed into 'replicas' and thought they were paranormal beings.
On 28 November 2021, he was located at a Wetherspoons pub in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where he exhibited strange behavior, muttering to himself and holding a plastic bag containing £1,315 along with three bank cards issued in Ms.
Assis’s name.
Police described the flat where the victims were found as having a 'dreadful' scene, with both Fernanda and her father stabbed multiple times in the face, neck, and body amid heavily bloodstained surroundings.
Initially, Costa claimed he had been attacked and was acting in self-defense, believing the victims to be paranormal entities.
He later provided an address for his partner.
Mental health evaluations confirmed that Costa suffered from 'paranoid schizophrenia,' with his cannabis use regarded as a contributing factor.
In February, he admitted to manslaughter at the Old Bailey, with prosecutors accepting diminished responsibility due to his mental condition.
Mr.
Justice Murray sentenced him to an indefinite hospital order at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital, signifying that he would be detained for treatment for an extended or potentially indefinite period.
