Adrian Smith, 28, told Manchester Crown's jurors that he had heard a “demonic voice” telling him “that you need to kill Zara or I will kill you.”
He told his aunt, “Sorry, but you have to die tonight,” before you stab it again and again. Adrian Smith, 28, is being tried in Manchester Crown, accused of trying to kill his mother's sister, Zara Smith, after he claimed that he heard a “demonic voice” telling him “that you need to kill Zara or I will kill you.” He denies the crime.
The court heard how the mental health of Mr. Smith has deteriorated over the past few years. His aunt described Mr. Smith from “a spiral of deterioration” because he found it difficult to live independently and eventually became homeless after he struggled to clarify a job.
Prosecutor Mark Killett said: “The mental health of the defendant deteriorated to the extent that he was detained earlier in 2024 under Article 2 of the Mental Health Law.
“In April 2024, he was detained again after being arrested by the police on M60, following calls around a man walking in the third corridor of the highway.”
His family, including his sister, also expressed their concerns about him, saying that he was “failed by mental health services.”
“After every occasion, he was detained, he was emptied without any housing,” said Mr. Keelett.
On June 27, the previous day, he went to visit his aunt. He talked about stability and the start of a family, before reporting the listening sounds, saying: “People in the streets of Manchester tell me to do things.”
He also said that the voices were telling him “to kill his mother and his father,” even though his aunt describes that he “does not seem natural”, as the prosecutors claim. “She was also concerned that the defendant was taking illegal drugs. In the past he told her that he used hemp, cocaine and cocaine. It is clear that she was concerned about the use of harmful drugs.”
Zara Smith called the doctor to report her fears and was told that her nephew would have to see the doctor personally. But Mr. Smith has already left her home and did not see it until the next night, the court heard. The court heard that on June 28, at approximately 9:30 pm, my mother and her partner returned to the house to find her son there, and informed her that she was “missing” to the police and in a troubled state.
At one stage, when he was on his way out of the house for a cigarette smoke, he approached her and moved towards her as if he was “biting it”, as was said.
Then his mother, her sister, visited Smith, to ask for her help, who in turn told her to contact the police. When I arrived at the Grossinor road in Hyde, she went home with the police, and asked Mr. Smith to bite his mother, he heard the jurors.
He told her: “I was cold and my years were arrogant, that's all.” Zara Smith told the officers that her nephew needed a clip, as they said that the ambulance was on her way, but it would take some time, the court was informed.
The public prosecutor said: “The two officers said that they were ringing that the defendant did not commit an arrest crime, and they had no authority in his detention.” “Zara explained the defendant's behavior the day before. The police asked whether Zara was” fine “waiting for the defendant, and Zara agreed that she would work.”
It was said to the jurors that Mr. Smith got up after that from the sofa and closed the curtains and said: “I just make it more comfortable so that no one can see it.” Then he said: “I am going to smoke, then I finished.”
His aunt came as an excuse to leave the house, but when she moved, he returned and seemed to carry a knife. He told her: “Sorry, but you have to die tonight,” the court heard.
Mr. Smith, then a “man” on her, stabbed her on the left shoulder. She shouted to help her: “Close ***, you will die tonight” and “just a lie there and bleed.”
Zara Smith told the jurors as evidence that it was like something from a horror movie and it seemed “pure evil”. During the attack, she stabbed her on the chest, and tried to “cut her throat” while she was going to the front door, was said. Mr. Keelette continued: “I grabbed the knife that fell to the ground. She says Adrian retreated from her, saying,“ Just calm. Just lie there and die. Let yourself bleed. “
He added that the defendant claimed that he would tell the police that she was trying to kill him instead.
The police arrived a few moments and arrested Mr. Smith. Zara Smith left with many injuries, including a stabbing stabbing, a stabbing wound for each chest and stab wounds in her left arm.
The court heard that Mr. Smith, that there was no fixed housing, accepts his aunt's appeal, and he previously acknowledged that he was guilty of causing his wound with intent. He denies the attempt to kill.
