Cocaine addicted killer stabbed a lecturer to death

A mentally ill man told his boss he would be late for work before randomly stabbing a university lecturer to death.

Mark Loveridge, 39, launched the unprovoked attack as Daniel Young, 30, walked through a park to a London Underground station. 

Mr Young was attacked near Morden Tube station in south London as he made his way to work at about 8am on January 19 2016.

It was his second day of a new job as a teaching fellow in tourism and hospitality at Coventry University London Campus.

Just half an hour before the killing, Loveridge, from Mitcham, south London, had attacked 23-year-old Polish builder Kamil Bulat, stabbing him in the buttocks. 

Loveridge, who has a history of drug abuse, spoke to his boss on the phone and told him he would be late for work.

Without warning he then approached Mr Young and fatally stabbed him in the stomach before throwing the knife into bushes.

He was on the run for a week before police arrested him.

The defendant, who has paranoid schizophrenia, denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, which prosecutors accepted.

He also pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

Daniel Young was attacked on what was his second day of a new job as a teaching fellow in tourism and hospitality at Coventry University London Campus

Loveridge has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour, as well as treatment by mental health services, the sentencing hearing was told. 

Weeks before the kiling Loveridge ditched his anti-psychotic medication and started taking cocaine and amphetamines which ‘exacerbated and triggered’ his mental illness. 

The gardener was discharged from a psychiatric unit in June 2015, the Old Bailey heard. 

The court heard Mr Bulat was loading his tools into his car, which was parked 300m from his home and near to where Loveridge lived.

This picture shows CCTV footage of university lecturer Daniel Young leaving his house 

Mr Young was attacked near Morden Tube station in south London as he made his way to work on January 19 2016

William Boyce QC, prosecuting, said: ‘The defendant approached him from behind and stabbed him twice in the buttocks, and the defendant then ran away.

‘Thankfully, it was non fatal. He made a rapid recovery.’

CCTV showed Loveridge in a number of streets in the area over the next hour-and-a-half.

Mr Boyce said: ‘The defendant walked in what might be thought to be a determined fashion through the streets.

‘He passed the home address of the victim, Daniel Young.

‘About 100m past Mr Young’s home there is an entrance to Kendor Gardens, a park.

‘Mr Loveridge entered Kendor Gardens at about 7.37am. Once in there, he spoke to his part time employer. He worked for him doing occasional gardening work.

‘The defendant told him he would be late for work. Meanwhile, Mr Young was preparing at his home to go to work.’

Mr Young set off for the tube station, entering the park through the same gate Loveridge had gone through minutes earlier.

The prosecutor said: ‘As Mr Young walked through the garden, someone has stabbed him once in the abdomen.

‘The knife would, the stab wound, passed through the abdominal wall into his bowel, leading to fatal bleeding.

‘And Mr Loveridge left Mr Young dying in the park.’

He threw away the knife in a nearby bush.

Passers-by found Mr Young unconscious, and emergency services did ‘all that they could’.

Mr Boyce added: ‘However, tragically he bled to death at the scene.

‘Without any warning, Mr Young had simply been stabbed in the abdomen as he walked trough the park.’

A post mortem found he had died from a stab wound.

Police searched the area and at 3pm that day, found a wooden handled knife with a 10cm blade in the park.

The weapon contained the DNA of the two victims and Loveridge.

Loveridge was eventually arrested in a street near his home on January 26.

Mr Boyce said: ‘There was a violent struggle before the defendant was arrested.

‘At the police station, despite legal representation, he thwarted any attempts to interview him. He used aggressive and violence behaviour.

‘He barricaded his cell and used his own urine to discourage police officers, and his own legal representative, to discourage interview.

‘The defendant’s actions seem to have been selective, for in the same period he was willing to cooperate with other routine procedures at the police station.’

Loveridge was moved to Belmarsh prison on January 29, and transferred two weeks later to its health care centre, before being taken to Broadmoor hospital on May 17 last year.

He later told psychiatrist Philip Joseph he heard ‘voices’ on the day.

Mr Boyce added: ‘He had been woken early by the voices.

‘He said he hadn’t taken any illegal drugs or alcohol that day.’

But reports showed that ‘there had been illegal drug use and also a failure to take his medication’, the prosecutor said.

Describing his account, Mr Boyce continued: ‘He was carrying a knife as was his habit. He said a man came too close to him.

‘The defendant felt paranoid, and his arm then went out and stabbed the man.. He had no control over his arm.’

He then said he decided to take a different route to work through the park.

Mr Boyce said: ‘The voices – his expression, then said get ready and told him that the first person be saw who walked past him from a certain direction was the man he should stab.

‘He walked up to the designated person, who was tragically Mr Young.’ 

Floral tributes near Morden tube station, south London, where Daniel Young, 30, was stabbed to death

Following his pleas, Detective Inspector Mick Norman said: ‘Daniel was stabbed as he walked to a catch a train to work.

‘It seems incomprehensible that something like this can happen to a person during their routine daily commute.

‘This attack was entirely unprovoked and it still remains unclear why Loveridge carried it out.

‘However, what is clear is that he is a dangerous individual.

‘A second young man was also stabbed that morning, and it is fortunate that his injuries – although terrible – were not life-threatening.

‘I expect that Loveridge will be detained for a long period, but Daniel’s family will have to live with his loss for far longer.’

Mr Young’s sibling Simon wrote on Facebook that his brother would always be in his thoughts and posted a series of pictures of them together, including completing the endurance race Tough Mudder.

He said: ‘My Brother. My friend. I’m still wrapping my head round this, still hoping/wishing it’s a sick joke.’

Julian Hendy, from the Hundred Familes charity, has been supporting the victim’s family and described the case as ‘deeply worrying’.

He said: ‘We are very concerned that seriously mentally unwell people are just not getting the help they need and that, as a consequence, wholly innocent people are losing their lives.

‘South West London and St George’s Mental Health NHS Trust looked after Mark Loveridge. According to the Trust’s own figures, at least 11 of their patients have been involved in killings since 2010.

‘We know mental health services across the country are under severe pressure, but the numbers of killings is increasing. This has to stop.’

The sentencing hearing continues.