Woman detained for killing landlord and his cat

Habiba Naveed lived in the same house as her landlord Christopher Brown

A woman who said she had been "sent to eliminate evil from the world" after she killed her landlord and his cat has been given an indefinite hospital order.

Habiba Naveed, 35, admitted the manslaughter of lawyer Christopher Brown who she attacked at the home they shared in Lewisham, south-east London, on 14 August 2024. His cat Snow was found with a stab wound to the neck.

The Old Bailey heard that following the attacks, she told her brother she was Jesus, and later told police "the devil attacked me last night and I won".

Naveed, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was "psychotic", and her mental health had "deteriorated" in the days before the attack, the court heard.

Prosecutor Kerry Broome told the court Naveed believed she had connections to the royal family and was the daughter of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed.

'Slept in coffins'

After the attack, Naveed told her brother "she was Jesus and had been sent to eliminate evil from the world", and later said to police "the devil attacked me last night and I won," Ms Broome said.

The court heard Naveed had told police she "slept in coffins", and Jesus had raised her from the dead.

Ms Broome said of a previous account of the attack given by the defendant: "She believed she had seen the deceased kill his mother and that the deceased was evil."

"She heard a voice telling her to kill him three times," the prosecutor said, adding Naveed hit Mr Brown with a pan and then strangled him.

"She believed the evil spirit had jumped out of the deceased and into the cat. She got a knife and she cut the cat," Ms Broome added.

The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after Mr Brown's body was discovered under a dressing gown in the living room of the home they shared.

A post-mortem examination found he had died from blunt-force trauma.

Family concern

The pair had lived together at Polsted Road for several years, during which Mr Brown was persuaded to put the property, which he had inherited from his parents, in both his and Naveed's names, the prosecutor said.

The house was refurbished and lodgers were taken in, which Naveed orchestrated, the court heard.

In the days leading up to the attack, Naveed's family were concerned at the state of her mental health, leading them to call 111 and an ambulance, the hearing was told.

During sentencing, Judge Sarah Munro KC said two psychiatrists agreed on the diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and that Naveed had "no insight" into her mental health, diagnosis or symptoms.

Naveed repeatedly became aggressive during previous hospital admissions and had been off her prescribed medication for a year at the time of the killing, the court heard.

The defendant was a frequent user of cannabis which exacerbated her symptoms but did not cause her psychosis, according to psychiatrists, the judge said.

'Kind man'

In a tearful statement, an unnamed colleague from Mr Brown's law firm told the hearing the victim would have helped anyone if he could.

"He wasn't just a 72-year-old-man tragically killed by his housemate, he was a solicitor, a boss, a partner, a kind man," she said.

In a statement read out by Ms Broome, Mr Brown's cousin described him as a "kind and caring person" who would go out of his way to help his family and his clients.

Naveed attended the hearing via video-link and only spoke to confirm her identity.

Judge Munro imposed a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41 - meaning Naveed can be detained indefinitely.