Cannabis addict who thought she was Jesus killed lawyer and his cat

A cannabis addict who believed she was Princess Diana’s secret daughter beat a solicitor to death with a saucepan and cut his cat’s throat, a court heard.

Habiba Naveed, 35, battered housemate Christopher Brown, 72, to death and slashed their pet’s throat at the refurbished house they shared in Lewisham, southeast London, last summer.

Naveed, who believed she was the daughter of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, had previously been arrested in Windsor and at the Houses of Parliament, the Old Bailey heard.

She had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and was in the grip of a psychotic episode at the time of the attack on 15 August.

Naveed believed Mr Brown was possessed by an evil spirit which transferred to his cat ‘Snow’.

Mr Brown was still working full-time, practicing family and health law when he was killed.

Naveed admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

She appeared at the Old Bailey  via video link from a secure psychiatric unit.

Judge Sarah Munro, KC, ordered Naveed be detained indefinitely in a secure psychiatric hospital under section 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act.

She said Mr Brown was a ‘skinny frail man’ who helped people when they were most vulnerable.

‘His family say he was unable to extricate himself from you,’ the judge told Naveed.

’On 15 August 2024 you snuffed out the life of that quiet, calm and selfless man, as well as that of your pet cat.

‘You were and continued to be at the time of the offences a heavy user of cannabis. That does not help your mental health – as you should well know.

‘You were clearly able to manipulate others into thinking you were well when you were far from it.

‘You hit him a number of times on the head with a saucepan which broke. You then sat on him and strangled him.

‘You then cut the cat’s throat.

‘There is a pattern since 2020 of your admission to hospital, aggression and violent behaviour when admitted, release, then a period of stability where you are prescribed medication which you do not then take.

‘There is no doubt you were psychotic at the time of the offence. You had been off medication for a year.

‘While cannabis exacerbated your symptoms it was not responsible for them.

‘I cannot overlook your non-compliance with medication, failure to seek medical advice and cannabis use.’

A post-mortem found the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest.

Mr Brown transferred the house in Polsted Road to him and Naveed in September 2016. They refurbished the home and rented rooms to lodgers – which Naveed took control of.

Two expert psychiatrists said Naveed was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and was psychotic at the time of the killing.

She had mental health problems since the age of 16 and was sectioned on three occasions.

Her family said she was a heavy cannabis user including shortly before the killing.

In June 2020 she was found driving recklessly near Windsor and was detained under the Mental Health Act.

In May 2022 she was arrested having abandoned a car near the Houses of Parliament and was again sectioned.

She was violent to staff and non-compliant with her medication after release.

In April 2023 her mental health deteriorated and Mr Brown reported she had accused him of burying bodies and being a paedophile.

Prosecutor Kerry Broome said: ‘She was detained and was acutely psychotic.

‘She was aggressive and confrontational at times but not violent. She was discharged on 4 July on anti-psychotic medication. Not long after release she said she did not want to continue with her medication.

‘She’s recorded as having a period of stability, maintaining a full time job and appearing settled.

‘On 12 July 2024 she was seen by a new care coordinator and reported that she had not taken medication for a year, was doing well and would be happy to be discharged from treatment.

‘On 12 August her brother reported his concerns about the defendant’s mental state.

‘From 8 to 14 August 2023 the defendant had been staying with her family. Throughout that period her mental health deteriorated – she was argumentative, delusional, and she had slapped her sister in the face.

‘During this period, her sister had called 111 and a crisis line for assistance with the defendant.

‘On 14 August 2024, as a result of the defendant’s behaviour, her sister and the defendant’s father called for an ambulance.

‘The defendant subsequently left her parents’ home at around before the ambulance arrived and she was reported missing shortly thereafter.

‘It appears that she took a Bolt taxi to 11 Polsted Road.

‘The defendant’s brother contacted the defendant’s mental health coordinator, during the day on 14 August 2024. Ms Gayle-Vaughan spoke to the defendant on the phone that day, she considered that the defendant seemed fine and arranged a meeting for 16 August 2024.’

Mr Brown’s lodger Mohammed Rizwan heard Naveed shouting at nobody before Mr Brown returned home.

‘He was woken by the defendant shouting, making a lot of loud noises and talking to herself. She seemed angry.

‘He heard her all afternoon, but did not leave his room to check. He could hear her using swear words, such as “d—k” and saying “I want my money back, I want all my money back”.

‘He had never witnessed her behaving like this before. He thought she screamed and shouted for about an hour, he heard things being thrown around and he believed this was in the deceased’s room.

‘A neighbour heard the defendant shouting “don’t you like the colour of my skin? Is it too hot for you you’re too pasty.”

‘Some time later she then heard a lot of banging, which she described as sounding like a herd of elephants coming downstairs.

‘Between 2 and 2.30pm, the defendant was seen in the Juliette balcony at the property by, she appeared calm and was singing quietly.

Mr Brown returned home around 7pm when Mr Rizwan left for work.

Naveed was seen walking away from the home at midnight.

‘At 2.15am on 15 August 2024, Mr Rizwan returned to 11 Polsted Road having finished work. Upon his return, he found the defendant’s cat lying on the doormat. He initially assumed that the cat was sleeping.

‘He entered the kitchen and found someone lying on the floor partially covered by a dressing gown. He assumed it to be the defendant, as he had observed unusual behaviour from her earlier in the day.

‘Mr Rizwan became concerned when he returned to check on the cat and discovered that she had blood stains on her and he found a bloodied knife in the shoe rack nearby. He called a friend, then the police, and they arrived shortly after 2.36am.

‘PC Dykes entered the property and discovered the deceased cat. He entered the living room area and found the deceased. He was lying on the floor, with his torso and face covered by a pink dressing gown.

‘The officer removed the gown and observed that the deceased had severe head injuries, both eyes were blackened and there was a deep cut to his left eye.

‘PC Dykes noted that he was already dead.

‘There was smeared blood and blood spatter on the walls nearby and drops of blood near the deceased’s head.

‘He found the cat to have blood-stained paws and belly and discovered that its throat had been cut. ‘

Naveed arrived at a friend’s house unexpectedly.

Ms Broome said: ’Darrel Pemberton asked her questions including whose blood was on her trousers but she did not say anything. He described her as having a lost, empty, deranged look in her eyes.

‘At 11.35am the defendant answered a call from her brother who told her a body had been found at her property.’

She made comments that she was Jesus, that she had been sent to eliminate evil in the world.

‘She was arrested at her parents’ home address.’

Naveed had injuries and bloodstained clothing when arrested.

Mr Brown studied at Manchester University and became a solicitor working for a family law firm.

His colleague Cassie Baker told the court: ‘He wasn’t just a 72 year-old man tragically killed by his housemate, he was a solicitor, a boss, a partner, a kind man.

‘He never raised his voice or got angry, he helped anyone he could and if he couldn’t he would take the time to find someone who could help.’

She said her family’s law firm would now have to close as Mr Brown was their only solicitor working on family and housing law.

‘Even now a year on we get phone calls from clients wanting to instruct Chris and each time we must explain he is no longer with us.

‘Every client, lawyer, barrister we have had to tell has been shocked they ask how someone could do this to such a kind, gentle man who only wanted to help others and I have no answer for them.

‘I still find myself thinking why did this happen to you Chris, what could you possibly have done to make someone kill you so brutally. No one deserves that.

‘Why is my boss not sitting in the office right now helping a client? We are not just talking about an old man dying, Chris wasn’t due to die that day but the defendant decided he didn’t deserve to live anymore, and instead of dying peacefully when it was his time, she ended his life in pain and fear.’

Mr Brown’s friend of 36 years Susan Atkins said he was a ‘shy, loyal, thoughtful person with a quiet sense of humour.’

‘Sadly he was too trusting, too vulnerable, easily manipulated,’ she said.

Naveed told a psychiatrist she had been concerned that Mr Brown had his parent’s ashes in his room and that she had felt his mother’s spirit.

‘She believed she had seen the deceased kill his mother and that he was evil. On the evening of the incident she and the deceased were in the kitchen, he said he was scared of her.

‘She heard a voice telling her to kill him three times, she hit him with a pan she was holding which caused him to fall, she then strangled him until she thought he was unconscious.

‘She said he had asked her to stop and she realised it was wrong, but she hit him again. She believed the evil spirit had jumped out of the deceased and into the cat. She got a knife and cut the cat’s neck.’

She told police ‘the devil attacked me last night and I won’, that she was Jesus and that she slept in coffins.

Naveed admitted manslaughter and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

She denied murder and her pleas were accepted by the prosecution.