Nude swordsman 'legally insane'

Eleven worshippers were seriously injured

A naked man armed with a Samurai sword attacked members of a church congregation because he believed they were demons, the Old Bailey has been told.

Eleven churchgoers, including an elderly nun, were seriously injured when they were slashed with a sword and a knife.

Eden Strang, 26, denies seven charges of attempted murder and six charges of assault.

He was suffering insane delusions that the people he was attacking were not human beings but demons

Nicholas Hilliard, prosecution lawyer

He was only overcome when worshippers at St Andrew's Roman Catholic Church, in Thornton Heath, south London, tackled him with a crucifix and an organ pipe, prosecution lawyer Nicholas Hilliard said.

The London court was told that Mr Strang had gone to the church near his home in Brook Road on the morning of 28 November last year, believing the congregation was made up of demons who had taken on human forms.

Insane delusions

Mr Hilliard told the jury that the facts of the case were not in dispute, but they would have to decide whether to accept medical evidence that he was insane.

If they decided he was insane they would have to return verdicts of not guilty through insanity, which would allow the judge to ensure he was treated in such a way as to protect the public, he said.

Mr Strang sat in the dock dressed in a smart suit as Mr Hilliard told the court that prosecution and defence psychiatrists were unanimous that he was legally insane at the time.

Mr Hilliard said: "He was suffering from schizophrenia and voices told him to go and attack the people in the church.

"He was suffering insane delusions that the people he was attacking were not human beings but demons who had taken on human form.

"He did not appreciate the true nature of what he was doing. He was so deluded that he did not know he was doing anything wrong."

Serious injuries

Mr Hilliard said Mr Strang had encountered the first victim, Paul Chilton, 55, outside the church and had caused him "grave injuries".

He had then gone inside where a service was being held, attacking church-goers, some aged in their 70s.

Parishioners had used whatever was available to try to overpower Mr Strang.

One person had used someone's Zimmer frame, another had grabbed a crucifix, the court heard.

Off-duty policeman Tom Tracey, 41, had managed to push Mr Strang away with an organ pipe and he was then overpowered by others.

Mr Hilliard told the court: "Some of the victims' injuries were directly as a result of blows from the sword.

"Some were caused while attempting to escape ferocious and sustained attacks.

"The attack ended only because of the bravery of some of the congregation."

The court heard that, in hospital, Mr Strang was asked why he had done it and said: "I am passing judgment."

He had accused the churchgoers of worshipping false idols.

Tragic life

In a statement read in court by Nadine Radford QC, defending, Mr Strang's wife Michelle said her husband had no specific religion but saw himself as "the servant of God".

They had met while he was studying business at Paisley University in Scotland and had a young daughter.

Over the years, he had become more interested in religion and shortly before the attack had read an article about pagan worship.

He had been made redundant from his computer job in June 1999 and had taken to spending the day in bed reading the Bible, as well as spending hours on his computer.

She said her husband had had a tragic life: his stepfather had taken an overdose and died in front of him when he was 11, and his drug addict mother had died of Aids a year later.

He was bought up by his grandmother in Glasgow and said he had been stabbed three times there.

Mrs Strang said her husband had talked of taking her away from "Satan's world" and on another occasion that he was married to God.

He had left the house after taking a bath and then a woman had knocked on her door pleading with her to call the police because there "was a mad man with a sword" at the church, she said.

The hearing was adjourned until Friday.