A homeless man who fatally stabbed a 77-year-old pensioner and wounded two others during a Remembrance Sunday knife rampage at a south London market has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order. Musse Ali, 67, admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility at the Old Bailey after experts found he was mentally unwell at the time of the attack.
Ali, who was born in Somalia and moved to the UK in 1990 after seeking asylum, had been diagnosed with a schizoaffective disorder but was not taking his medication. The court heard that his long-standing illness was the main driver behind the horrific offending on November 10, 2024, at East Street market in Walworth.
Prosecutor Allan Compton KC detailed how Ali took a knife from a shop and stabbed three people in quick succession. Ho Man Yau and Baheru Nadew Bartura were seriously injured, while Hilkiah McLeggan died at the scene from a stab wound to the back. Panicked onlookers shouted warnings before Ali was disarmed and restrained. The incident was not treated as terrorism.
In victim impact statements, Mr Bartura said the attack had left him housebound with anxiety and PTSD, while Mr McLeggan's daughter Laura said Ali's decision to stop medication and abscond from supported living made the murder preventable. She said he had shown no remorse. The judge, His Honour Nigel Lickley KC, described Ali as dangerous but accepted expert evidence that his violence stemmed from severe mental illness.
Ali was sentenced to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act, meaning he will be detained indefinitely for treatment. The judge said the case was a tragic consequence of a man who was very unwell, causing serious alarm and distress to the public.
