A delivery driver who stabbed a French tourist to death in a random attack yards from the scene of the Stephen Lawrence murder is facing a life sentence today.
Nicholas Foy, 38, was high on ‘a deadly combination’ of cocaine and alcohol, and wore only a pair of pink shorts, when he ran up to Laurent Volpe, 49, and plunged a kitchen knife into his stomach without warning.
Mr Volpe, an engineer and father-of-two, had been walking to the shops to buy some dinner for his family after a day out sightseeing.
Foy also threatened to stab passers-by when in Eltham, south east London, and had to be Tasered several times by police before he could be arrested.
Nicholas Foy (pictured), 38, was high on cocaine and drugs, wearing only a pair of pink shorts, when he ran up to Laurent Volpe, 49, and plunged a kitchen knife into his stomach without warning
The 38-year-old admitted to killing Mr Volpe but claimed he did not intend to cause such serious harm as he was drunk and could not remember anything.
Cecile Chapais, partner of Mr Volpe, said in a victim impact statement: ‘A family of four is now reduced to three.’
She described Mr Volpe as a ‘smiling, kind person full of life and a man with whom I shared more than 20 years of my life.’
Ms Chapais wept in court as the guilty verdict was delivered, and Foy stood silently in the Old Bailey dock.
A jury of ten women and two men found Foy guilty of murder by a majority verdict of 11 to one after deliberating for five hours and 18 minutes.
Judge Sarah Munro QC said to Foy: ‘You have been convicted of murder for which the sentence is set by law as life imprisonment.’
He will be sentenced Friday 16 February.
Tony Volpe said the death of his brother Laurent was ‘almost too hard to bear, both mentally and physically.’
He said: ‘I think of my brother Laurent daily and his disappearance is a daily sorrow.’
Mr Volpe, who had been staying at a rented house in Eltham, had spent August 11 last year sightseeing with his partner and two children.
They visited Tower Bridge, had lunch at Southwark and then took a boat to Greenwich to visit the Observatory.
The family returned to Eltham at around 5pm and it was decided that Mr Volpe would go out to the nearby Co-op for food while his partner made plans for the next day.
Foy had been drinking and taking cocaine after finishing work early.
He spotted Mr Volpe walking down the road and ran up to him to stab him in the stomach without a word.
Prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC said: ‘Nothing was said by either him or Laurent Volpe and the attack was completely unprovoked.
Mr Volpe (pictured), who had been staying at a rented house in Eltham, had spent August 11 last year sightseeing with his partner and two children
‘Mr Volpe screamed in agony and was seen to clutch his stomach.
‘He managed to stay on his feet and staggered to the end of the road and collapsed to the ground.’
Foy threatened shocked members of the public who witnessed the attack and shouted: ‘Do you want to be next’.
One man tried to shield himself from an attack using a rubbish bin.
Foy then ran down the road in his shorts with the bloodstained knife but was spotted as he tried to return to his home via neighbouring gardens.
‘Such was the level of his aggression he had to be Tasered several times before he was brought under control,’ said Mr Glasgow.
‘He refused efforts to help him and even headbutted one of the police officers who stood guard over him.’
Mr Volpe had suffered an 11cm wound and a pierced liver. He died in hospital three days later.
Mr Glasgow told jurors Foy was ‘fueled with a deadly combination of alcohol and cocaine.’
Mr Glasgow continued: ‘The attack was entirely unprovoked. Quite what possessed him to act as he did, to plunge the knife into the body of a complete stranger, may never been known.’
Foy, of Eltham, denied but was convicted of murder.