Catford homeowner stabbed drunken burglar to death

A homeowner stabbed a drunken burglar 50 times and killed him after he caught him trying to steal a TV in his living room, a court heard.  

Errol Hanson, 51, knifed Mohammed Savare, 26, over 50 times in his garden after finding him clutching his TV in the early hours of 19 June.

Mr Savare, who had fallen asleep under a park bench nearby, bled to death after being stabbed 30 times in the neck alone.

Hanson, of Catford, south east London, was sweeping the street outside his house when, after waking up from his drunken slumber, Mr Savare slipped inside. 

When he came back inside he found the intruder with his TV in his hands and mobile phone in his pocket.

A violent struggle ensued, which even saw the radiator fall off its hinge and Hanson fetch a knife before stabbing his victim on the patio outside, Southwark Crown Court heard.

Hanson, of Brownhill Road, Catford, denies murder, claiming he did stab him, but was ‘terrified’ and it was self defence.

The prosecution, however, claim his actions were ‘neither necessary nor reasonable’.  

Lisa Wilding QC, prosecuting said: ‘In the early hours of the morning on 19 June of this year, a violent altercation took place between Mohammed Savare and this defendant Errol Hanson in the back garden of Errol Hanson’s flat in Catford.

‘At the end of which Mr Savare had over 50 stab wounds to his body of which 30 alone were to his neck.

‘Mohammed Savare had fallen asleep nearby under a park bench close to this address having seemingly collapsed there drunk.

‘He awoke and staggered down a road on which this defendant lived.

‘Errol Hanson was up at that time of the morning as he is a poor sleeper.

‘Whilst he was outside and unbeknownst to him, the deceased – seeing the street door open – wandered into the flat where he proceeded to set about stealing the TV that was in Mr Hanson’s living room.

‘Mr Hanson walked back into his flat and confronted the intruder. What happened then is known only to two men, one of whom is dead.

‘This defendant says that they struggled and he managed to get the intruder into his back garden.

‘He then went back into the flat and took up two knives which he took back outside with him.

‘He says the defendant – who was unarmed – came at him and he stabbed him to defend himself.

‘Mr Hanson says he only recalls one wound being inflicted by him.

‘In fact you will hear that Mohammed Savare sustained over 50 stab wounds of varying depth and severity.

‘Those injuries were very serious and were immediately life threatening. 

‘By the time police arrived at the premises having been called there at 5.10am he was already dead.

‘The defendant accepts that he stabbed Mohammed Savare but maintains that he did so in self-defence.

‘The prosecution say that his actions were in fact neither necessary to defend himself, as the intruder was by now outside the property, neither were they reasonable, and were therefore not done in lawful self-defence.’

Hanson told police that he felt terrified and was trying to get the intruder out of the house.

He alerted authorities after running into a newsagents next door, telling staff ‘someone came to my house and beat me, please quickly call the police’.

Describing the moment of the stabbing, Mrs Wilding said: ‘He was scared and shouted at him to get out of his house. He couldn’t see if the man had a weapon.

‘He explained that Mr Savare dropped the television and head-butted him and punched him in the face.

‘The defendant then got the intruder in a bear hug as he felt terrified and was trying to get him out of the house.

‘The two of them struggled in the course of which a radiator came off its hinges in the hallway and in the kitchen they knocked into the fridge which caused some miniature bottles on top of it to fall down.

‘He went on to explain that he managed to get the intruder outside onto the patio and then returned inside and got hold of two knives before returning outside with them in his pocket at which the intruder punched him again and was being aggressive and violent.

‘Mr Hanson said that he then took out one knife and stabbed the man in the throat.

‘He told doctors that at the time he stabbed Mohammed Savre he was in a rage as he had never felt that angry before and he had lost control as felt mad and angry.’ 

The trial continues.