Daniel Levy, 48, has pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to murdering his friend Abdul Kaleem Shaik after stabbing him in the neck at a flat in Vauxhall, south London. Levy, who has schizophrenia, had previously killed his grandmother in 2000, and after this second killing he prayed at a mosque and had a massage before handing himself in to police, telling officers "It's happened again."

Prosecutors said Levy stabbed Mr Shaik, 41, on New Year's Eve or in the early hours of New Year's Day, later telling police he believed his friend's deteriorating mental health meant killing him was a way of helping him reach heaven. He was arrested after walking into Bishopsgate police station on 1 January, and officers found Mr Shaik's body with a stab wound alongside a bloody knife at the flat. Levy had been convicted of his grandmother's manslaughter and arson in 2001 and given an indefinite hospital order, having previously absconded and later been recalled to hospital over threats to harm his parents; he changed his plea to guilty of murder just as his trial was due to begin, telling the judge he wanted to "go quietly" rather than face a public trial.