Man guilty of stabbing neighbours

A man who inflicted severe knife wounds on his elderly neighbours, carving crosses on the neck of one victim, has been found guilty of attempted murder.

David Brown wanted to borrow £130 from Evelyn Leedham and stabbed her and her husband Reg when she refused to go to a bank, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Brown, of St Joseph's Court in Merry Hill, in the Black Country, used three knives in the attack last December.

The 39-year-old admitted the attack but denied two charges of attempted murder.

He will be sentenced at a later date.

'Father held hostage'

The court heard the unemployed heroin addict had a fascination with the action movie XXX and its star Vin Diesel, even once changing his name to that of the actor.

Earlier, the court was told that Brown visited the couple's flat in Wolverhampton on the evening of 4 December.

In a police audio interview with Mrs Leedham, recorded from her hospital bed and played to the jury, she said Brown claimed his father was being held hostage.

He wanted to drive her to the bank but when she refused, he pushed his way in with a 12-inch knife.

The couple, both in their 70s, lived on the ninth floor of St Joseph's Court.

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