Man detained for killing father

The son of a respected African diplomat has been detained indefinitely for killing his father in a row over his studies.

Beza Mbeboh, 29, stabbed his father through the heart at their family home in Greenford, west London, last August.

Mbeboh had earlier admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility, after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

At the Old Bailey, he was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.

Although you are normally a placid man and I would be failing in my duty to the public if I did not make an order without limit of time Judge David Paget

"I accept that when you stabbed your father in the heart you clearly were suffering from a mental illness and your responsibility was diminished," said Judge David Paget.

"Although you are normally a placid man and I would be failing in my duty to the public if I did not make an order without limit of time."

Kitts Mbeboh, 60, was cultural attache at the Cameroonian High Commission.

He was separated from his wife Felicia, who now lives in Dallas.

Stalked colleague

The court heard that his son, who was born and educated in Cameroon, came to the UK at the age of 19.

He and his brothers, who were all educated to a high standard and bilingual in English and French, were brought up in a "competitive and academic environment", jurors were told.

Mbeboh's relationship with his father, a religious man who had "high expectations" of his four sons, had become strained.

Members of his family noticed his behaviour becoming strange from 2007 although he had never received treatment for mental illness.

In the same year, he received a formal harassment letter from police after he started stalking a female work colleague.