Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 25, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleA UK man was found guilty of murdering a teenager in a London sword rampage, with multiple attacks in Hainault. The case involved cannabis-induced psychosis claims.
LONDON (Reuters) -A man who killed a 14-year-old boy in London during a rampage with a sword was found guilty of murder on Wednesday.
Marcus Arduini Monzo, 37, nearly decapitated schoolboy Daniel Anjorin during a 20-minute series of attacks in Hainault, east London, in April last year, in which he also assaulted several other people including police officers.
Prosecutors said Monzo killed and skinned his cat before driving his van at a pedestrian and slicing him with the sword, murdering Daniel and then trying to murder a police officer.
He then broke into a house and attacked a sleeping couple in bed before leaving after their child began to cry, finally wounding a second police officer before his arrest.
London police chief Mark Rowley heralded the "extraordinary bravery" of his officers on the day, two of whom were left with life-changing injuries as they tried to apprehend Monzo.
"Our colleagues, desperate to protect the community, ran towards an erratic and violent man who had just killed a young child and injured many others," he said.
Monzo said he did not remember having carried out the attacks and his lawyers argued he should not be found guilty of murder as he was suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis.
Prosecutor Tom Little, however, argued at the start of Monzo's trial at the Old Bailey that "self-induced intoxication" did not provide a defence to the charge of murder.
Monzo was convicted of Daniel's murder by a jury.
He was also convicted of other charges, including three counts of attempted murder, for which there is no partial defence of diminished responsibility.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Marcus Arduini Monzo was found guilty of murdering 14-year-old Daniel Anjorin during a sword rampage in London.
Monzo's lawyers argued that he should not be found guilty of murder due to suffering from cannabis-induced psychosis.
During the rampage, Monzo killed and skinned his cat, attacked a pedestrian, murdered Daniel, and attempted to kill police officers.
London police chief Mark Rowley praised the extraordinary bravery of officers who ran towards Monzo to protect the community, despite the danger.
Two police officers involved in the apprehension of Monzo were left with life-changing injuries as they tried to stop him.
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