Man cut off flatmate's head

Martin Dowse reports from Bournemouth Crown Court.

The Crown Prosecution Service has given its reaction to the sentencing of 30-year-old Karl Addo for the manslaughter of 23-year-old Sergio Marquez.

Addo was sentenced today at Bournemouth Crown Court to life imprisonment with a minimum term of six and half years.

He also received an indefinite restriction under Section 41 of the Mental Health Act with a referral to Broadmoor Hospital, after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Sergio Marquez, 23, on the grounds of diminished responsibility, on 2 December at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Ms Hingston said ,edical experts who had been treating Addo in a secure mental hospital while he was waiting for his trial agreed that he had only recently become sufficiently lucid to be fit to plead, although he remained extremely delusional.

A man has been sent to Broadmoor, a high security mental health hospital, under the mental health act.

30-year-old Karl Addo attacked and decapitated 23-year-old student Sergio Marquez last July. He had suffered from mental illness for several years.

Mr Maquez's family said he had only wanted to work, learn and help others. They said he was impossible to replace.

His killer also received a prison sentence to run concurrently, of life imprisonment. He must serve a minimum of 6.5 years.

A man is due in court today for the manslaughter of his flatmate last July.

30-year-old Karl Addo pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court on Monday for the manslaughter of 23-year-old Spanish student, Sergio Marquez.

Addo suffered years of mental illness which led to an extreme complex that he was being assaulted and injected with drugs.

He hit him with a cleaver and stabbed him in what was a "prolonged horrific and very violent attack".

Addo absconded from a mental health unit the day before a tribunal in October 2011 decided he should be sectioned.

He then "disappeared" from mental health services before he moved to Bournemouth in May 2012. He killed Mr Marquez, a hotel waiter, on July 17 last year - nine months later.

Addo, of no fixed abode, pleaded not guilty to murder today but guilty to manslaughter through diminished responsibility.

The prosecution said the plea was acceptable because Addo had been severely mentally ill when he killed Mr Marquez. He will be sentenced on Wednesday.

In statement after the hearing, his mother Maria Carmen Marquez Torres, said: "Sergio's life was cut short, a boy that only wanted to work, learn, help others, enjoy the life that God gave him and make everybody that knew him happy.

"He had such a beautiful life. He wanted to be a father and have three children, and the thought of this filled him with excitement.

"Sergio had everything, he was handsome, happy, kind, healthy, responsible, fun, and polite. He is a person that is impossible to replace."

A paranoid schizophrenic killed his flatmate and cut off his head in a frenzied attack after suffering from delusions that he was being persecuted, a court heard today.

Karl Addo, 30, suffered years of mental illness which led to an extreme complex that he was being assaulted and injected with drugs.

He snapped on the day he had been told to leave the flat in Bournemouth, Dorset, he shared with Spanish student Sergio Marquez, 23.

He hit him with a cleaver and stabbed him in what was a "prolonged horrific and very violent attack"

Addo absconded from a mental health unit the day before a tribunal in October 2011 decided he should be sectioned.

He then "disappeared" from mental health services before he moved to Bournemouth in May 2012. He killed Mr Marquez, a hotel waiter, on July 17 last year - nine months later.

The mother of a Spanish student found dead in a flat in Bournemouth last year has paid tribute to her son as a man pleads guilty to his manslaughter.

30-year-old Karl Addo pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court this morning and is due to be sentenced on Wednesday.

Sergio's mother Maria Carmen Marquez Torres, said:

"As well as mother and son, we were best friends and we looked after each other. When he was young Sergio did not stop repeating ‘I want to be happy’, and he achieved this.

"Sergio’s life was cut short, a boy that only wanted to work, learn, help others, enjoy the life that God gave him and make everybody that new him happy. He had such a beautiful life. He wanted to be a father and have three children, and the thought of this filled him with excitement.

"Sergio had everything, he was handsome, happy, kind, healthy, responsible, fun, and polite. He is a person that is impossible to replace. I would like to thank the people of Bournemouth, and those who have shown their affection with floral tributes and writings.”

A man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Spanish student Sergio Marquez.

The 23-year-old's body was found in a flat in Bournemouth City Centre in July last year.

Today 30-year-old Karl Addo pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Bournemouth Crown Court. He'll be sentenced on Wednesday.