Irish man murdered in London by attacker high on synthetic drug

A Tesco worker has been found guilty of smashing in a stranger's head with a brick while high on a synthetic drug.

Malachi Lindo, 27, had taken ethylone before he attacked 51-year-old Philip Steels in Enfield in the early hours of September 4th, 2014.

His Old Bailey trial had heard that Mr Steels, originally from Co Sligo, was found by police on a footpath with a brick lying next to his head.

He had a large hole in the left side of his head and his face was damaged beyond recognition, the jury was told.

Lindo was seen rolling around in the middle of the road some 50 metres away with the victim’s blood on his hands, prosecutor Anthony Orchard QC said.

When he was detained by police, he became erratic and shouted: “Take me to heaven, kill me now, I want to die.”

The defendant told police he had taken cocaine, ecstasy and cannabis and asked to go home saying: “I promise I won’t kill again”.

Inside Lindo’s bag, police found cannabis and white powder hidden in fake cans of Lynx spray and drinks cans.

After he was arrested on suspicion of murder, blood and urine samples were analysed and found to contain alcohol and commonly abused drugs.

The analysis also uncovered the presence of ethylone — a pyschoactive synthetic drug which has a similar effect to amphetamine and ecstasy.

The court was told it could cause euphoria, elevated mood as well as sweating, headache, nausea, agitation, and possible hallucinations.

A toxicologist concluded that Lindo might have been experiencing the effects of ethylone and used cannabis at around the time of the attack.

A post mortem examination found Mr Steels died from a severe blunt force trauma to the head which could have been caused by the brick.

Lindo had admitted the manslaughter of Mr Steels but it was argued on his behalf that he was not guilty of murder because he was suffering an abnormality of his mental functioning at the time.

But a jury at the Old Bailey deliberated for 11-and-a-half hours to find Lindo, from Enfield, guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to one.

Judge Paul Worsley QC adjourned sentencing until Monday to consider the minimum term for Lindo’s life sentence.

He said psychiatric evidence had shown Lindo had since made a recovery, adding: “Certainly while he is not taking drugs, he would not appear to be a problem.”

But he added Lindo’s mental health was a “powerful consideration” when deciding how long he should spend behind bars before being eligible for parole.

The defendant made no reaction as he was sent down from the dock.