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A man has been jailed for at least 40 years after being convicted of murdering a 14-year-old schoolboy with a samurai sword during a 20-minute rampage in east London.<\/p>\n
Marcus Monzo fatally wounded Daniel Anjorin minutes after the schoolboy left his home in Hainault on 30 April last year. The 37-year-old also injured five more people, including two police officers.<\/p>\n
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Passing sentence at the Old Bailey, Judge Mr Justice Bennathan said Monzo inflicted an \u201cunsurvivable wound\u201d on Daniel.<\/p>\n
Speaking after the hearing, Daniel\u2019s family said they felt \u201cjustice had been served\u201d.<\/p>\n
Grace and Dr Ebenezer Anjorin said: \u201cThis has been a painful and traumatic chapter in our lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo verdict or sentence will bring back our son Daniel who we loved so dearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel was taken from us in a way that no family should ever have to endure.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHis life had so much potential ahead, he was gifted academically, was kind and had a generous spirit that touched everyone who knew him. We carry that light with us, even in this dark time.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the Old Bailey, the judge told Monzo: \u201cYour choosing to consume cannabis over months and days was the dominant cause of your state that day.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou had some warning of its adverse effect on you, you knew it made you paranoid and at least led to panic attacks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Due to time already served and other mitigating factors such as \u201cprevious good character\u201d, Monzo was ordered to serve a minimum term of 38 years and 309 days.<\/p>\n
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On Wednesday, Monzo was found guilty by jurors at the Old Bailey of murdering the Woodford Green schoolboy.<\/p>\n
Monzo, a Brazilian-Spanish national, was also convicted of attempting to murder local residents Donato Iwule and Sindy Arias, as well as PC Yasmin Mechem-Whitfield, in a 20-minute rampage last April.<\/p>\n
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He was convicted of wounding with intent against Insp Moloy Campbell and Ms Arias\u2019s husband Henry De Los Rios Polania.<\/p>\n
Body-worn camera footage from the police was played to the court and showed officers trying to disarm Monzo and suffering serious injuries as a result.<\/p>\n
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Witnesses described the former Amazon delivery driver screaming \u201cin delight\u201d and smiling after fatally wounding Daniel, who had been walking to school in his PE kit, wearing his headphones.<\/p>\n
During the trial, prosecutor Tom Little KC told jurors it was \u201cmiraculous\u201d that more people were not killed as Monzo slashed and chopped at whoever he came across over the next 20 minutes.<\/p>\n
In the hours before his rampage, on 30 April last year, Monzo had also killed and skinned his pet cat Wizard.<\/p>\n
PC Mechem-Whitfield was hit three times with the 60cm-long blade with \u201cextreme force\u201d as she chased Monzo through alleyways and residential properties.<\/p>\n
Next he entered a property and attacked a couple who were sleeping in an upstairs bedroom with their young daughter nearby.<\/p>\n
Monzo demanded to know if they believed in God, before he left the property.<\/p>\n
Insp Campbell told the BBC how he tried to detain Monzo in a car park and received a slash wound to his hand.<\/p>\n
Monzo then climbed on to the roof of a garage before he was finally apprehended.<\/p>\n
Following his arrest, Monzo claimed his personality had switched and that \u201csomething happened, like a game happening\u201d.<\/p>\n
Monzo likened events to the Hollywood film The Hunger Games and claimed to have an alternative persona of a \u201cprofessional assassin\u201d.<\/p>\n
Giving evidence at his trial, he said he had no memory of what happened and claimed his mental state had diminished his responsibility for the crimes.<\/p>\n
However, prosecutors argued that psychosis brought on by self-induced intoxication was no defence for murder.<\/p>\n
Even though Monzo admitted he had drunk a hallucinogenic tea called ayahuasca, no trace of DMT \u2013 the class A drug in the drink \u2013 was detected in his system.<\/p>\n
\u2018I reached down, called his name\u2019
\nA victim impact statement on behalf of Daniel\u2019s father was read out before the sentence was passed.<\/p>\n
Recalling the morning Daniel was killed, Dr Anjorin said his son left for school at 07:00 BST and 15 minutes later he was told Daniel had been stabbed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran outside the house and just across the road I saw a hunched-up body by the side of the road,\u201d Dr Anjorin said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not realise that it was Daniel at first but, as I got closer, I recognised the school sports clothes and saw his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was lying in a pool of blood and had a deep cut to his face running from the side of his mouth to the back of his neck. He was motionless. I knew at once that he was dead, but I reached down, called his name and held his head.\u201d<\/p>\n
The court also heard statements from Insp Campbell, Mr De Los Rios Polania and PC Mechem-Whitfield.<\/p>\n
Mr De Los Rios Polania, who tried to shield his family after Monzo burst into their home, told the BBC he had spent the last year unable to work, just trying to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can say is, I\u2019m surviving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Monzo\u2019s defence barrister told the court that the defendant had sent a letter to the judge.<\/p>\n
Ian Henderson KC said: \u201cNo matter what was in that letter, it couldn\u2019t even begin to scratch the surface. The letter is a combination of remorse, bewilderment and non-comprehension.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf he could turn back the clock, he would.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reacting to the guilty verdicts on Wednesday, Met Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley said he hoped the verdict \u201cbrings some small semblance of justice and closure\u201d to Daniel\u2019s loved ones.<\/p>\n
Sir Mark also praised the \u201cextraordinary bravery\u201d and \u201crelentless courage\u201d of the officers who responded to the rampage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man has been jailed for at least 40 years after being convicted of murdering a 14-year-old schoolboy with a samurai sword during a 20-minute rampage in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33258,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-33257","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n