Cullercoats man stabbed victim after suffering 'confusion and amnesia' following epileptic fit

A man stabbed a grandad to death after suffering from "confusion and amnesia" following an epileptic seizure, a court has heard.

Andrew Peacock used a knife stab Lee Santos at least 59 times in the torso, head, neck and upper limbs but prosecutors and defence barristers agree he is not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the 44-year-old had a history of suffering from epileptic fits and had endured one such episode moments prior to attacking Mr Santos in the lobby of a block of flats in Cullercoats, in North Tyneside.

Peacock is said to have been suffering from "postictal confusion and amnesia" following an epileptic seizure at the time and was unaware of what he was doing when he pounced on Mr Santos on the afternoon of 23 December last year.

The condition causes a temporary impairment of the conscience as a result of "paranoid delusions and either auditory hallucinations or misjudgement of sounds", the court was told.

As a result, Peacock was "unaware of his actions", which killed Mr Santos, a jury was told.

Peacock, of John Street, in Cullercoats, had previously pleaded not guilty to Mr Santos's murder by reason of insanity, which was accepted by both the prosecution and defence, but a jury must legally decide if that is the case.

Toby Hedworth KC, prosecuting, said Peacock had been suffering from frequent epileptic seizures in the weeks prior to December last year and they would often leave him in a confused state.

The court heard on the day of the attack, Peacock had texted his partner to say he was going for a lie down as he was feeling unwell.

She confirmed he had previously expressed paranoid thoughts to her that someone had been in his flat without his knowledge or permission.

Mr Hedworth said, at around 4:30pm the same day, Mr Santos, 45, from Wallsend, was visiting his brother in his flat, which was in the same block as Peacock.

The two men decided to go to a local shop to buy some food and were walking through the lobby outside Peacock's flat when he suddenly "pounced from his door and jumped on" Mr Santos.

The court heard Peacock, whose eyes were described as "proper crazy", was shouting "you have been sitting in my house" during the attack, despite Mr Santos having never met Peacock nor been inside the property.

Two passing neighbours who had seen what was happening from outside, phoned the police.

Mr Hedworth KC said: "The defendant was still stabbing Mr Santos. When Paul Walker went back inside the lobby, his brother was lying on the floor, fatally injured, and the defendant was sitting on the floor with the knife in his hand and he said he had just had a seizure and was not well.

"Police arrived on the scene extremely quickly as a result of the neighbours' call but, in the meantime, the defendant himself made a call on his mobile, while he was sat on the floor, to his partner and told her 'Sandra, I think I have killed somebody, there's a body lying next to us, I don't know what's happened, I think I have had a seizure'."

The court heard nothing could be done to save Mr Santos's life and a subsequent post mortem examination revealed he had suffered 32 stab wounds to his torso and 18 to his head and neck.

Mr Hedworth told the jury: "Andrew Peacock admits he caused the death of Lee Santos as a result of deliberate actions, for which there was no lawful excuse. But, as will be apparent, this is an extremely unusual case.

"He, the defendant, has been examined by highly experienced medical specialists for both the prosecution and defence and those specialists are in agreement, because of an epileptic seizure that Andrew Peacock must have suffered that day, and which was part of a history of incredibly frequent fits, leading to postictal confusion and amnesia, together with paranoid delusions and either auditory hallucinations or misjudgement of sounds, his conscience was impaired.

"They concluded that Andrew Peacock was unaware of his actions when he killed Lee Santos."

The jury must decide if they agree that Peacock is not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. The case continues.

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