05-25-2007, 03:26 AM
A young Muslim convert stabbed a man to death for talking about religion, the Old Bailey has heard.
Painter and decorator Michael McKenzie, 40, was attacked in Peckham, south London, in April last year.
The court heard he was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop shortly after going for a drink after work.
The youth, who was 15 at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Thursday and remanded in custody until sentencing on 5 July.
Mr McKenzie went for a drink and then to the bus stop outside Peckham library to catch the number 63 back to his home in Crystal Palace, prosecutor Julian Goose QC told the court.
'Disturbed youth'
"The deceased arrived and was heard to be shouting. He pointed towards the sky and said `there is no Muslim, there is no Christian, the God I believe in is this God'," Mr Goose said.
The youth initially did not react but when a bus pulled up at the stop the driver saw him stab Mr McKenzie in the neck.
He ran off back to the children's home where he lived, leaving a trail of blood, and washed his clothes in the laundry.
The court heard that the teenager was a convert to Islam who was living in care after suffering abuse at the hands of his father.
Now 17, he was said to be a "psychiatrically disturbed, vulnerable and potentially dangerous young man".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6689047.stm
Painter and decorator Michael McKenzie, 40, was attacked in Peckham, south London, in April last year.
The court heard he was stabbed in the neck at a bus stop shortly after going for a drink after work.
The youth, who was 15 at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Thursday and remanded in custody until sentencing on 5 July.
Mr McKenzie went for a drink and then to the bus stop outside Peckham library to catch the number 63 back to his home in Crystal Palace, prosecutor Julian Goose QC told the court.
'Disturbed youth'
"The deceased arrived and was heard to be shouting. He pointed towards the sky and said `there is no Muslim, there is no Christian, the God I believe in is this God'," Mr Goose said.
The youth initially did not react but when a bus pulled up at the stop the driver saw him stab Mr McKenzie in the neck.
He ran off back to the children's home where he lived, leaving a trail of blood, and washed his clothes in the laundry.
The court heard that the teenager was a convert to Islam who was living in care after suffering abuse at the hands of his father.
Now 17, he was said to be a "psychiatrically disturbed, vulnerable and potentially dangerous young man".
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6689047.stm