A mentally ill man who stabbed to death an elderly mobility scooter rider while gripped by a delusion that he was a Hunger Games contestant will be detained indefinitely in hospital.
Lee Byer, 46, had been free from prison for just five days when he launched into a savage and unprovoked knife attack on 87-year-old Thomas O’Halloran, stabbing him twice through the heart.
The killer was suffering from undiagnosed paranoid schizophrenia at the time, suffering from paranoid delusions and psychosis, the Old Bailey heard.
Doctors later reported that Byers - armed with a knife - had gone out that day after hearing voices in his head, and believed he was due to “meet a contestant in a Hunger Games scenario” when he attacked Mr O’Halloran.
CCTV caught his last moments after being stabbed by Byer, as he slumped forward in the scooter and made a doomed attempt to ride away to safety.
He had been stabbed twice in the heart, three times in the neck, and once in the back, and died at the scene on August 16, 2022.
The killer, who has now admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility, was carrying a knife around in a manbag on the day he killed Mr O’Halloran.
Five days earlier, he had been set free from HMP Wormwood Scrubs after finishing a 12-year prison sentence for a violent robbery.
Judge Mark Lucraft KC, the Recorder of London, imposed an indefinite hospital order on Byer.
The judge said Mr O’Halloran was a “gentle and loving man who spent his whole life working and helping everyone he could”.
“No words could cover the grief his family feel at this senseless killing”, said the judge.
The judge added that there had been past concerns about Byer’s mental health, in 2020, including earlier reports that he had been hearing voices, an incident of self-harm, and a detention by police under the mental health act.
Footage recovered by police showed Mr O’Halloran riding home in his scooter in the last minutes of his life, waving cheerily to people he knew and heading for a family dinner.
In a victim impact statement, his grandson, Dennis Lintern said Mr O’Halloran, known simply as Tom, was killed in a “horrendous act of cowardice”.
“He didn’t only take my grandfather’s life but has devastated and taken something from everyone who knew him”, he said.
“He was minding his own business, doing what he loved, playing his accordion to make people smile, and enjoying his music which he had done for many years.”
Mr Lintern said the family became concerned when Mr O’Halloran did not return for dinner, and their “hearts dropped” when the police arrived to break the news.
“We love you granddad, we always will, and we hope wherever you are, you are looking down on us”, he added.
Footage played to the Old Bailey on Friday showed Mr O’Halloran’s mobility scooter decked with blue and white tape for his Ukraine busking fundraising, as well as a handwritten sign which read: “I play on my own, I play to entertain” and the humorous addition: “I’m not with him” and an arrow.
Prosecutor Gareth Patterson KC told the court: “In the summer of 2022, on the afternoon of August 16, Thomas O’Halloran was travelling home on his mobility scooter in West London.
“He made his way along a road parallel to the A40 in Greenford. His path took him past this defendant, who was walking the streets in possession of a large knife.
Mr O’Halloran, for his part, was unarmed and of course, at the age of 87, he in no way posed any kind of threat to anyone. Yet Thomas O’Halloran was attacked and stabbed repeatedly by the defendant.
“I say ‘repeatedly’ - two of the stabs injuries were to his heart. Three of them were to his neck which was stabbed on both sides and a branch of his jugular vein was cut. He was also stabbed to his back.
“A passer-by telephoned for help and the police and paramedics rushed to the scene, but despite their best efforts Tom O’Halloran bled to death at the side of the road.”
The prosecutor added: “On any view, this was a truly shocking attack.”
Byer is seen on the CCTV cameras walking along the side of the A40 just before the attack, wearing t-shirt and shorts and with a medical Covid mask over the lower part of his face.
After the stabbing, a young man comes across the injured Mr O’Halloran and the pensioner is seen slumped in his scooter as it drives slowly forward.
He told the bystander that he had been stabbed, before trying to drive forward again before coming to rest next to a grass verge.
Mr O’Halloran’s accordion was recovered from the ground, while Byer’s DNA was found at the scene of the stabbing.
Byer was then caught on camera running away from the scene, carrying a large knife in his hands and wearing gardening gloves. He was caught on camera discarding the knife down a drain.
When he was arrested in the early hours of August 18, Byer denied stabbing Mr O’Halloran and told officers: “I was in prison, I was in prison, so it is impossible what you are talking about.”
Byer had bought bleach on the way home after the stabbing, he burnt his trainers, and disposed of his clothes.
He denied being the attacker when questioned, but has now admitted manslaughter and possession of a knife.
Byer has previous convictions dating back to when he was just 13-years-old, including a 12-year jail term for the robberies of two jewellers where a hammer was used to smash display cabinets. He has a total of 15 convictions for 30 offences, including drugs offences and domestic harassment.
The court heard Byer’s mother and brother had concerns about “odd behaviour” after he was set free from prison on August 11, but his mental health conditions had not been diagnosed. A guard at HMP Wormwood Scrubs also later reported that Byer had taken to wearing gardening gloves while behind bars for an unknown reason.
One of the doctors who assessed Byer reported that the killer had been “suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning caused by the recognised medical condition of paranoid schizophrenia”, including hearing “command hallucinations to kill and felt he could not ignore them”.
Another doctor assessed a handwritten defence statement provided by Byer, in which he described a box being inserted into his head during a haircut, and “described feelings of paranoia, and made repeated references to a ‘Hunger Games’ scenario in which he was required to meet ‘contestants’ and then fight or attack”, said Mr Patterson.
“He wrote that he heard people talking about him; that his memory was erased or wiped; he described cutting himself.
“The document then referred to his release from prison, a person in a car watching him on a laptop and people ‘logged into his head’ when he was shopping. He wrote about voices directing him via ‘the device / box’ and instructions to meet a contestant in a Hunger Games scenario. He wrote about setting off on foot and being notified that a ‘meeting’ was waiting for him ahead.
“He described seeing the man (who was clearly Mr O’Halloran) and wrote that he drew his weapon. He wrote that he later made off home.”
The court heard Byer says he deliberately did not reveal the Hunger Games scenario in his police interview, and went to question whether Mr O’Halloran was real.
It was also revealed that Byer had previously been held under mental health legislation, he had a history of drug use including Spice, and he had also previous attempted to self-harm.
A doctor told the court Byer is likely to be on life-long anti-psychotic medication, he will be held at maximum security Broadmoor Hospital for at least the next few years and could be held in a secure hospital for the rest of his life.
Satyanand Beharrylal KC, for Byer, said the defendant “has nothing but regret for what he did”, and has issued an apology to Mr O’Halloran’s family.
Detective Chief Inspector Laura Nelson, who led the Scotland Yard investigation, said: “First and foremost, my thoughts today are with Thomas’s family who continue to feel the loss of their much loved father and grandfather. His death was senseless.
“Detectives have conducted a meticulous investigation in order to establish the facts of Thomas’s death. Byer’s movements were tracked from his release from prison up to the day of the attack, enabling us to present evidence that could not be disputed. We have worked closely with the forensic command and their examinations have intrinsically linked Byer to the attack.
“We have worked in partnership with the CPS and mental health professionals in order to understand Lee Byer’s mental health. It is the conclusion of mental health experts that Byer was psychotic when he attacked and killed Thomas O’Halloran. The findings have been shared with Thomas’s family.”