Man admits killing custody officer Lorraine Barwell at London court

Humphrey Burke, 28, kicked Lorraine Barwell in the head in 2015

A man has admitted killing a custody officer who was attacked as she escorted him out of a London court.

Humphrey Burke caused "catastrophic" brain injuries to Lorraine Barwell, 54, by kicking her in the head at Blackfriars Crown Court in 2015.

The 28-year-old, of Oxford, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 11 January and was further remanded into custody at a secure hospital.

Burke's guilty plea was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service, with prosecutor Tom Little QC telling the court: "Our position is a plea that relies on the partial defence of diminished responsibility would be acceptable to the Crown."

In 2016, an Old Bailey jury concluded, after a trial of the facts, that Burke had caused "catastrophic" injuries to Ms Barwell by kicking her in the head.

Lorraine Barwell had worked at Serco for more than a decade

Burke was at the time assessed as unfit to enter a plea to the murder charge due to mental illness and was given a hospital order.

Speaking in 2016, prosecutor Duncan Penny QC said Burke had been "unpredictable" at previous Blackfriars hearings where he had pretended to faint, collapse and go limp.

At the time of the attack a psychiatric report had been prepared but no definitive diagnosis of mental illness had been made.

Ms Barwell was attacked as she escorted the prisoner from Blackfriars Crown Court

Gia Sofokli was on her first day in the job and was "shadowing" Ms Barwell, who had worked at security firm Serco for more than 10 years.

She told the Old Bailey in 2016: "He just literally pulled his leg back and kicked her," she said, before he swung at her again.

Ms Barwell died from her injuries on 3 July 2015 and the Ministry of Justice and Serco said she was the first prison custody officer to die in the line of duty.