Devon farm murder: Broadmoor order for strangler

Luigi Palmas strangled Katherine Bevan while working at a farm in Devon

A man who strangled a woman at a farm in Devon has been sent to Broadmoor Hospital indefinitely.

Italian national Luigi Palmas, who has schizophrenia, admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and assault causing actual bodily harm.

He killed Katherine Bevan, 53, when she was tending cattle at Combe Farm Arabian Horses, in Gittisham, Devon.

Judge Peter Johnson made the 27-year-old the subject of a hospital order at Exeter Crown Court.

Palmas has a history of mental illness but had been symptom free for a year before moving to work on the horse-breeding farm, the court heard.

There had been a few disputes between him and the veterinary pharmacist, known as Kate, and he waited in the shadows near the bull pen before attacking her on the night of 3 January.

At first it was thought she had been trampled to death by cattle, but a post-mortem examination showed she had been strangled, the court heard.

The pathologist found scratches on her neck where she had fought and tried to pull his fingers away.

Ms Bevan was found at Combe Farm Arabian Horses in a bull pen

Palmas, from Monza, began showing alarming psychotic behaviour in the days after the killing such as stripping naked and smearing himself in cattle dung.

The court heard he has a history of random violence against strangers and his own family, caused by schizophrenia, which had been treated successfully until his relapse.

Judge Johnson said his actions appeared "to be fully attributable" to his mental disorder but "on any view, this was a tragedy".

Palmas' hospital order includes a restriction which means he cannot be released unless his doctors and the Ministry of Justice are satisfied he poses no risk to the public.