Birmingham stabbings: Man admits Jacob Billington killing

Zephaniah McLeod admitted a charge of manslaughter and four counts of attempted murder

A man has admitted killing a person and trying to kill or wound seven others in a series of stabbings in Birmingham.

University library intern Jacob Billington, 23, died and seven others were injured in five separate incidents in the early hours of 6 September.

Zephaniah McLeod, 28, of Nately Grove, Selly Oak, Birmingham, pleaded guilty to Mr Billington's manslaughter.

At Birmingham Crown Court, he also admitted four counts of attempted murder and three of wounding.

Appearing via video link, McLeod was told he would be sentenced on 27 and 28 September.

A total of eight people were injured after the attacks in and around the city's Gay Village

Mr Billington, from Crosby, Merseyside, was stabbed in Irving Street while enjoying a night out with school friends.

A post-mortem examination found the intern at Sheffield Hallam University died of a stab wound to the neck.

His family were present in court and over video link to hear McLeod's pleas and they heard he has paranoid schizophrenia.

Seven others were hurt in the cluster of attacks across the city centre including Mr Billington's old school friend and bandmate Michael Callaghan.

In a statement after his death, Mr Billington's family said he was "the light of our life" and his death had devastated them.

Jacob Billington worked as a library intern at Sheffield Hallam University

McLeod had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in February but at the time was not asked to enter pleas to other charges.

On Monday, in addition to the charge of manslaughter, he admitted four counts of attempted murder.

He pleaded not guilty to three other counts of attempted murder but instead admitted three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Prosecutor Karim Khalil QC told the court the guilty and not guilty pleas were acceptable to the prosecution.

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He added psychiatrists for both prosecution and defence agreed McLeod suffered from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the events.

"It was unquestionably a condition which affected his ability to understand all that was going on," Mr Khalil added.

The attacks happened at four locations across Birmingham city centre

He added consultations had taken place before the decision with victims and Mr Billington's parents.

The Recorder of Birmingham, Judge Melbourne Inman QC, said of the stabbings: "There are many people touched and affected by the case."

He added it was important the psychiatrists involved in assessing McLeod were given time to help the court decide on his sentence.

McLeod's attacks happened in the space of 90 minutes:

• Police were first called just after 00:30 to Constitution Hill, where a 33-year-old man sustained a neck wound

• About 20 minutes later they were sent to Livery Street, near Snow Hill railway station, where they found a 25-year-old woman who had been stabbed in the shoulder

• Minutes later a man, 29, was found in a critical condition with a chest wound on Barwick Street

• West Midlands Police said after leaving Barwick Street, McLeod dumped his knife in a drain, caught a taxi home, rearmed and headed back into the city centre

• At 01:50, officers were despatched to Irving Street, where Mr Billington was found with fatal injuries and his 23-year-old friend critically injured

• About 10 minutes later, police were called to Hurst Street, in the city's Gay Village, to find a 23-year-old woman had been critically injured and two men, aged 24 and 29, had been stabbed

Det Ch Insp Jim Munro said the force used footage from the large number of CCTV cameras in the city to help track down McLeod after the attacks.

"We were able to match the clothing McLeod wore to witness and victim descriptions, to identify him and he was arrested from his home address 24 hours later," he said.

West Midlands Police had to defend its response to the attacks after being criticised for not responding fast enough and the time taken to release images of the suspect.

The force carried out a review and found it acted "appropriately and professionally".

It said declaring a terrorist incident could have delayed medical aid to victims, risking further loss of life.