Landlord stabbed lodger 39 times

Andrew Anderson had tried to help Gordon Coltart

A landlord who killed his lodger by stabbing him 39 times has been detained indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital.

Gordon Coltart, 35, became mistakenly convinced that Andrew Anderson, 37, was sexually abusing a local barmaid, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

In fact Mr Anderson was trying to help Coltart with his mental illness.

The attack happened at the house they shared in Barnston, Wirral. Coltart admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The court heard that Coltart, a university graduate and former pupil of Shrewsbury School, had told police the barmaid had commanded him through voices in his head to carry out the attack.

But Mr Anderson had done nothing wrong and had previously tried to help his landlord to cope with his problems.

Having had my medication regularised, I feel truly a huge amount of remorse towards the Anderson family Gordon Coltart's letter to the court

The court heard Coltart had suffered mental illness, which he blamed on his experimentation with illegal drugs while at university.

He had previously been sectioned, failed to hold down jobs and was also a heavy drinker.

His parents bought him a house near theirs and encouraged him to take in lodgers to help pay the bills.

About two months before the killing, Coltart persuaded his GP to reduce his medication and his behaviour became erratic.

On the day of the killing his mother took him to hospital, but he wandered off twice.

He was found the next day blood-stained and said he had killed Mr Anderson.

'Feel their pain'

Coltart expressed his regret and praised his victim in a letter to the court.

It read: "Having had my medication regularised, I feel truly a huge amount of remorse towards the Anderson family. I have no idea how they might rebuild their lives.

"What makes it horrible is that I feel their pain and I knew Andrew quite well."

Judge Henry Globe QC told Coltart his decision to reduce his medication made him partly responsible for his mental decline, but accepted the plea of diminished responsibility.