Can Arslan acted like he was starring in horror film as he killed neighbour, court told

A “cunning and smart” man acted out his own horror film with himself in the “starring role” when he stabbed one neighbour to death and tried to murder another, a court has heard.

Can Arslan, 52, killed father-of-three Matthew Boorman on the victim’s front lawn in Walton Cardiff, near Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, on October 5 last year.

He knifed Mr Boorman’s wife, Sarah, in the leg as she tried to drag him off her husband, and then forced his way into the home of another man, Peter Marsden, and stabbed him eight times.

Arslan, who is on trial at Bristol Crown Court, denies murder, claiming he should be convicted of a lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Two forensic psychiatrists agree he was not psychotic or mentally ill; however, he has been diagnosed with a paranoid, unstable and antisocial personality disorder.

The prosecution argue that, although his personality lies outside of what is normal, Arslan was fully in control of what he was doing and that he knew the difference between right and wrong.

Arslan’s defence team say his personality disorder meets the condition of “abnormality of mental function” that would reduce the crime from murder to manslaughter.

In her closing speech to the jury, Kate Brunner QC cited the words of one of Mr Boorman’s colleagues, who was on the phone to him when Arslan attacked.

“She said it was like listening to a ‘totally horrendous horror movie’, and it was a horror movie that was just beginning and this defendant had written the script,” Ms Brunner said.

“This was not something that happened to him – it was something he had planned and controlled. It was a horror movie planned out, where he was going to stab his victims to death one by one.

Police bodycam footage shows Arslan's arrest.

“A horror movie where he was going to take a starring role, and end up on the TV.”

Following his arrest, Arslan asked officers if he was on Sky News or the BBC.

Ms Brunner said the defendant had faked a number different potential psychiatric defences, such as being suicidal, hearing voices telling him to kill, and then amnesia of the incident.

He asked the psychiatrist instructed by the defence if her report could get him a lesser sentence.

Ms Brunner said that by faking mental illness, Arslan had demonstrated how rational he was.

“He is a cunning, smart man trying to pull the wool over eyes,” the prosecutor said.

Howard Godfrey QC, for Arslan, said the defendant was not trying to “wriggle out” of responsibility for Mr Boorman’s death, but said it was clearly “not normal behaviour”.

'He is calm, he is robotic, he is emotionless throughout much of this'

“He attacks in broad daylight, when everyone is around and there is CCTV everywhere – is that normal?” he said.

“He doesn’t do it at night when someone is out walking their dog and then run away, he doesn’t wear a mask to try and hide who he is; it’s broad daylight, in front of everyone who is around.”

Mr Godfrey went on: “After Mr Boorman was dead, he continued stabbing him 27 times, then lights a cigarette and sits on top of Mr Boorman. Does that seem like normal behaviour?

“He is calm, he is robotic, he is emotionless throughout much of this.”

Mr Godfrey referred to a number of witnesses who described Arslan as having “psycho” or “beady” eyes, or seeming to be “amused” by what he was doing.

He also cited the evidence of forensic psychiatrist Dr Sally Foster, who found “impaired mental functioning was a significant contributing factor to the defendant’s acts”.

Mr Godfrey said: “In her expert opinion, (Arslan’s personality disorder) did impact his ability to form a rational judgment and it was bad enough to amount to an abnormality of mental function.”

The jurors at Bristol Crown Court have retired to consider their verdict.