A care-in-the-community patient accused of strangl
A care-in-the-community patient accused of strangling his mother in her Surrey home has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
Patrick Sureda is said to have killed mum Geraldine after believing she was a government assassin trying to murder him.
The chilling crime occurred at her home in Mitcham Park, Mitcham, on August 20 last year.
Flanked by hospital staff, the 30-year-old appeared at the Old Bailey as a jury were asked to decide whether he was fit to take part in trial proceedings.
Medical experts explained that Sureda is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and his mental condition is deteriorating.
Sureda addressed the jury and claimed he was defending himself against a death plot conspiracy hatched by the Labour Party because of his Tory politics.
But doctors said they were concerned his state would prevent him from taking an active role in a murder trial.
After a short period of deliberation a jury decided Sureda was suffering from a disability and was unable to take part in proceedings.
A full trial, in which another jury will hear the facts of the case, will take place on July 18.
Sureda, of no fixed address, will continue to receive psychiatric treatment in a mental hospital in the meantime.
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