Daniel Levy had previously been convicted of killing his grandmother by stabbing and setting her on fire
A convicted killer has admitted fatally stabbing his friend in the neck in South London over New Year’s Eve before handing himself in to police, saying: “It’s happened again.” On Wednesday, Daniel Levy, 48, pleaded guilty to murdering Abdul Kaleem Shaik, 41, at his flat in Vauxhall.
It can now be reported that Levy, who has schizophrenia, had previously been convicted of killing his grandmother by stabbing and setting her on fire in July 2000.
Levy had previously accepted killing Mr Shalik but denied it was murder due to his mental health at the time. He dramatically changed his plea as his trial was about to be opened before a jury at the Old Bailey. At a previous hearing, the prosecution said Levy had stabbed Mr Shaik in the neck with a large knife at his flat some time on New Year’s Eve or early on New Year’s Day.
Police were alerted to an incident after Levy went to Bishopsgate police station shortly after 8pm on January 1. He confessed that he had killed someone, telling officers: “It’s happened again.” The comment was understood to be a reference to the killing of his grandmother in 2000.
Officers went to his flat in Vauxhall and found the body of Mr Shaik on a makeshift bed with a stab wound and blood on his chest, neck and face. A bloody knife was recovered from the property.
Levy was arrested and charged with Mr Shaik’s murder the following day. CCTV footage showed that only the defendant and victim had been at the flat on the evening of December 31.
In a police interview on January 2, Levy gave a detailed account and told officers that he had known Mr Shaik for years and allowed him to stay in his flat. He said Mr Shaik had become “very depressed” and was not coping well.
He said that as a result of Mr Shaik’s deteriorating mental health, he felt he needed to help him by killing him and securing his passage to heaven.
Prosecutor Peter Ratliff had told the earlier hearing: “He described how he had been considering and trying to do this for some time. In the early hours of January 1, he finally did what he had planned by stabbing the deceased in the neck.
“He said he could hear him dying but did not want to watch it and went to the mosque to pray, had a massage and showered before going to the police station.”
The court heard Levy was convicted of his grandmother’s manslaughter by diminished responsibility and arson in October 2001. He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to an indefinite hospital order.
The previous hearing was told Levy had absconded from a secure mental health unit in 2003 and after his release was recalled to hospital in 2013 as a consequence of expressing thoughts about harming his parents.
Following his release, Levy was required to maintain contact with his mental health team and the defendant considered he was up to date with his medication, the court had heard. His medication was administered by injection under supervision but Levy had expressed scepticism about his need to be medicated, the prosecution had said.
Before entering his guilty plea on Wednesday, Judge Lynn Tayton KC questioned Levy and asked if he had enough time to consider his position.
Levy told her he wanted to plead guilty to murder, saying: “I don’t want to go to trial. I don’t want my personal information outside in public. I would rather just go quietly as possible, do my time.”
The judge ruled that Levy was fit to enter his plea. Defence barrister Michael Holland KC said Levy should be given credit for his late plea, saying he had never denied the killing.
He asked for information on Mr Shaik’s mental state to establish whether the defendant’s view of his actions as “akin to assisted suicide” was rational or not. Judge Tayton remanded Levy into custody to be sentenced on Wednesday September 9.
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