Zephaniah McLeod

3 offences

What the court heard

He pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, attempted murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) in Birmingham, West Midlands, on 6 September 2020. SENTENCING REMARKS 1. Zephaniah McLeod, you have pleaded guilty on this indictment to the manslaughter of Jacob Billington, the attempted murder of Migle Dolobauskaite, Thomas Glassey, Michael Callaghan and Shane Rowley, and to causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Dimitar Bacharov, Ryan Bowers and Rhys Cummings. 2. Just after midnight on 6 September 2020, you were wandering the streets of Birmingham armed with a knife and intent on killing one or more persons. Over the course of twenty minutes, you stabbed your first three victims. After disposing of your first knife, you soon decided to obtain another one. You asked a restaurant to lend you a knife on the pretext that you needed to cut something and, when the staff refused, you took a taxi home and then straight back into Birmingham city centre with the sole purpose of obtaining a second knife. Having rearmed yourself, you stabbed another five victims over the course of the next ten minutes. 3. Your victims were variously enjoying a night out or returning home from work. They gave you no offence, and they were chosen at random. On a number of occasions, you asked for a cigarette or a light, in an apparent pretext to get close to a potential victim before striking. The video and witness evidence demonstrates that you used significant force as you stabbed your victims. Wherever possible, you aimed your knives at your victims' necks. 4. In the course of your murderous rampage, you killed one man, left another man and a woman fighting for their lives and wounded five others. While they were your direct victims, your actions have had the most profound effect on dozens of lives. One family is left grieving for a young man whose life was cut short at just 23, while other families had to endure the uncertainty of whether their loved ones would survive and continue now to struggle to come to terms with life-changing injuries. Hopes and dreams have been crushed. Survivors and their families have been traumatised by the sheer horror of these events and their brush with mortality. Some have described survivors' guilt, flashbacks, anger, fear of going out and mistrust of strangers. They have endured not just physical pain but the most terrible psychological distress. Jobs have been lost and others have suffered…

Around this case

• Birmingham Crown Court
• Prosecuted by CPS West Midlands
• Investigated by West Midlands Police