Mentally ill woman who decapitated brother hospitalised indefinitely

The hearing was held at the Old Bailey

A woman who decapitated her brother while suffering a severe mental illness has been hospitalised indefinitely.

Heaven Belal, 41, attacked her brother Omar Bilal with a knife on 27 July 2021 after she moved to London from Plymouth to be near her older sibling.

The Old Bailey heard there was no dispute that the defendant had killed Mr Bilal.

She was found not guilty of murder "by reason of insanity" and handed a hospital order without limit of time.

The court heard that unbeknown to the first officers to arrive at her council flat in Edmonton, the defendant had called 999 herself.

She then told police: "It's me, Samoeel, the Lord," in an apparent reference to an Old Testament prophet.

• Mentally ill woman decapitated brother, court told

Officers forced their way into the property and found a man's body clothed only in underwear and socks and lying at the top of stairs.

Prosecutor William Emlyn Jones KC said: "His upper half had been covered over with bin bags. It immediately seemed as if he was dead.

"That was confirmed when an officer removed the bin bags and discovered that the man's head had been severed from his body and was missing."

The victim had also sustained multiple stab wounds to the chest and elsewhere, the prosecutor said.

The court was told officers went on to discover the decapitated head in a bedroom wardrobe inside a plastic carrier bag.

'Awful tragedy'

The defendant, who appeared calm but wore heavily bloodstained trousers and shoes, was arrested on suspicion of murder.

Inside a locked suitcase, officers found a large kitchen knife which had been used to kill Mr Bilal and wiped clean, the jury heard.

Mr Emlyn Jones said: "The awful tragedy of this is that the defendant was in the grip of a very serious mental illness. Everyone involved in this case agrees that the killing is explained by her illness."

He added psychiatrists agreed Belal was suffering from delusions and was unaware that what she was doing was wrong.

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