Walthamstow park body: Man guilty of murder while on bail for axe attack

Richard Hand killed Yassar Moussa while on bail for a "vicious" axe attack in south London

A drug addict has been found guilty of murdering a man while on court bail for a "vicious" axe attack.

Richard Hand stabbed Yassar Moussa, 37, in the neck on 22 August last year then dumped his naked body in a park near to his home in Walthamstow, east London.

At the time of the killing, Hand had been on bail charged with attacking another man eight months earlier.

Hand, 43, from Walthamstow, was found guilty of murdering Mr Moussa at the Old Bailey on Friday.

He was also found guilty of attempted murder and having an offensive weapon in relation to an axe attack on Graeme Bennett in January 2020.

Mr Moussa was visiting Hand at his home in Falmouth Way on the day of the attack.

Hand fatally stabbed Mr Moussa in the neck. An examination of the body also found a wound to Mr Moussa's knee suggesting a failed attempt at dismemberment.

Afterwards, Hand attempted to cover his tracks by stripping Mr Moussa's body and covering him in bleach before stuffing him in a suitcase.

Yassar Moussa was attacked while visiting Richard Hand's house

The next day, Hand was caught on CCTV dragging a heavy suitcase to St James Park where Mr Moussa's body was found in heavy undergrowth near a small brook.

It was only by chance the body was discovered on 24 August as Environment Agency workers cut back the undergrowth in the park for the first time in 10 years.

Hand denied being responsible for the killing of Mr Moussa, who he knew as a fellow drug user.

When officers spoke to Hand, he claimed to have heard the victim was strangled or stabbed in the neck and dumped naked - details that were not publicly known.

Mr Moussa's blood was identified inside the defendant's flat and on his clothes.

Environment Agency workers found the body of Yassar Moussa by chance while cutting the grass in St James Park

Jurors were told that at the time of the killing, Hand had been on court bail for the attempted murder of Mr Bennett.

The court heard Hand had been at the victim's home in Streatham Hill, south London, when he launched an axe attack "out of the blue".

Mr Bennett, 43, who had invited Hand to help him hang some pictures, was struck twice to the head, fracturing his skull, and once on the left wrist.

Hand denied responsibility for both attacks.

Hand was remanded in custody to be sentenced on 19 October.