A homeless man with schizoaffective disorder who stabbed a 77-year-old grandfather to death and injured two others in a random attack on Remembrance Sunday has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.
Musse Ali, 67, pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility for the killing of Hilkiah McLeggan at East Street market in Walworth, south London, on 10 November 2024. He also admitted wounding Ho Man Yau and Baheru Nadew Bartura with intent.
“Homeless man Musse Ali sentenced to indefinite hospital order for knifing pensioner to death on Remembrance Sunday.”
The court heard Ali, who had not been taking his medication, entered the market at around 10.30am, jumped over a counter and appeared to steal a knife. The shop manager, believing Ali had tried to steal vapes, pushed him out – only to realise he was holding a blade.
Ali then stabbed three people in quick succession. Mr Yau later said in a witness statement that the defendant “looked crazy”, adding: “His eyes were wide and scary, looking directly at me. He looked unclean, like he hadn’t had a shave or a shower in a while.”
His Honour Judge Nigel Lickley KC said: “This case concerns the tragic events on the 10th of November 2024 when three members of the public were attacked by the defendant, who had armed himself with a large kitchen knife. Mr Ali was mentally very unwell at the time with his long standing illness as the main driver in his horrific offending that day, when he stabbed and killed Hilkiah McLeggan and seriously injured Ho Yau and Baheru Bartura.”
The judge accepted evidence from two experts that Ali was “very unwell” and described him as “dangerous”. Ali, born in Somalia, moved to the UK in 1990 after seeking asylum.
The indefinite hospital order means Ali will be detained in a secure psychiatric facility until he is no longer deemed a risk.