Grandad killer was mentally ill
A killer was mentally ill when he stabbed his disabled grandfather to death after discovering the pensioner had been accused of sexual abuse, a jury found today.
Ben Oliver, 25, knifed and slashed 74-year-old David Oliver to death in a ‘brutal’ attack at the pensioner’s home in Mottingham, south London, on 19 January last year.
Mr Oliver was immobile and bedbound, having suffered a stroke in 2016.
Oliver immediately confessed what he had done to his grandmother, the court heard.
He had been ‘very close’ with his grandparents and had his own room at their house.
But he was enraged after discovering the historic allegations of abuse.
On the morning of the incident the 25-year-old suddenly picked up a kitchen knife, walked into his granddad’s bedroom and knifed him several times in the head.
Prosecutor Louis Mably earlier told the court: ‘He was attacked and killed as he lay helpless in his bed.
‘He had been repeatedly stabbed and slashed with a knife in the face, and in particular in the area of his neck, which had effectively been cut open.
‘This was a brutal attack, plainly carried out with the intention of killing him.
‘In the months before January 2021, and the days leading up to the killing, [Oliver] became aware of other allegations of…abuse,’ Mr Mably said.
‘Allegations that his grandfather was responsible for.
‘There were also allegations that David had treated his wife, Susan, badly by having a number of affairs.’
The younger man had been a victim of bullying at school because he wore a hearing aid and was ‘troubled and angry.’
He was on anti-depressants, had thoughts of suicide and instances of self-harming.
Oliver, of West Park, Greenwich, southeast London, admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility but denied murder.
After hearing the evidence of psychiatrists, jurors cleared him of murder and found he was mentally ill and not responsible for his actions at the time.
Oliver will be sentenced on June 20 and is likely to be sent to a secure hospital for treatment.
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