A man is guilty of murdering his girlfriend and three members of her family in London | Criminal

A man has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend and three members of her family in a drug and alcohol-fuelled attack at their south London home.

Joshua Jacques, 29, stabbed his girlfriend Samantha Drummonds, 27, her mother Tanisha Ofori-Akufa, 45, her grandmother Dolette Hill, 64, and Hill's husband Denton Burke, 58, in Bermondsey in the early hours of April 25 last year. year.

Police said they found a “bloodbath” in the home, with Burke's body at the foot of the stairs and the three women “thrown together” in the kitchen.

An Old Bailey jury deliberated for two hours to find Jacques, of Minard Road, Lewisham, south-east London, guilty of four counts of murder on Thursday.

Jacques, a convicted drug dealer, admitted their manslaughter but denied murder on the grounds of limited liability.

Officers found Jacque inside the home, lying in a prayer position and yelling “Allah, take me!”, “Kill me now,” “Get rid of me,” and “God, please forgive me.”

Later, in Lewisham hospital, Jacques said: “I wasn't even wrong, I did it for the victim” and also said: “I'm going to do something stupid again.”

Judge Bryan adjourned sentencing until February 9 and remanded Jacques in custody.

The prosecution asked the judge to consider whether the “exceptional nature” of the multiple murders warranted a life sentence. Tom Little QC, prosecuting, argued that Jacques' ability to make rational judgments and exercise self-control was not significantly impaired by any psychiatric illness and that his behavior was caused by “self-induced intoxication, drug and alcohol use”.

Jurors were told Jacques had 11 previous convictions for 20 offences, including cannabis, possession of a knuckle duster and robbery. He first underwent a mental health assessment in April 2016 after being admitted to hospital after drinking toilet water. He was arrested after threatening to stab and shoot a security officer and throwing food in his cell while in police custody.

He said he was taking 3g of skunk cannabis a day and refused to consider cutting back, saying he would continue smoking weed “even if it kills him”.

In 2018, he was detained under the Mental Health Act after he was seen praying in the middle of a busy road in Brixton, south London. Initially, upon admission, the impression was of drug addiction with psychotic features, jurors were told.

In February 2020, he was jailed for 51 months for conspiracy to traffic in heroin and cocaine, and possession of cannabis. He was released on November 11, 2021.

The day before the murders, Drummonds admitted to a friend that he believed Jacques was having an “episode.” Little told jurors that no doctor was sought before the killing, and Jacques was not taken to a hospital.

After Jacques launched the attack, Drummonds called his mother, Norma Driver, but, the court was told, all she could say was “Norma, he's a hundred … a hundred … ahhh”. There were also FaceTime calls between Jacques and Driver that evening, and during one, after 2 a.m., he said: “I'm ending this, I'm going to donate.”

The defense argued that Jacques was exhibiting manic symptoms consistent with bipolar disorder.