Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter of Colin Hammond
Frederic Russell stabbed him to death on Fulham High Street in 2012
The man who killed Colin Hammond in Fulham in 2012 has pleaded guilty to manslaughter at the Old Bailey today (4 May).
30-year-old Frederic Andre Russell admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility and is to be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act.
Mr Hammond, aged 65, was stabbed to death on Fulham High Street close to Putney Bridge station on 25 October 2012. The two men were not known to each other. Russell was arrested near to Hammersmith Bridge within an hour of the stabbing, still in possession of the blood-stained knife. When approached by police officers, he attempted to harm himself with the knife, but the swift action of the officer prevented serious injury.
The attack was witnessed by passersby around tube station including Gemma Chan, the girlfriend of comedian Jack Whitehall, who gave evidence at previous hearing of the case in 2013. She described seeing a young man with a goatee beards in a struggle with an older man and then realising the younger man had a knife. The younger man was kneeling on top of his victim gripping him by the neck and telling him he didn’t have any money. She noticed that he had his right hand pressed to the neck of Mr. Hammond. When he pulled his hand away Ms. Chan saw he was holding a knife.
After the attacker moved away, Ms Chan crossed the road to see if she could help the victim. She heard him groaning and holding the left side of his neck and asked him if he was okay. At this point the attacker reappeared and looked directly at Ms Chan.
Gemma Chan
She told the court, 'We stared at each other for about three seconds and then the road started to fill with people as a train had arrived at the tube station.'
Ms Chan called for an ambulance and tried to take a picture of Russell. She stayed with Mr. Hammond after a doctor arrived on the scene and CPR was administered but he later died.
Mr Hammond was originally from Scotland, but had lived in London for many years and according to some local reports had been a concierge at a block of luxury flats in the area. At the time of the attack he is believed to have been homeless. He had a wife, from whom he was separated, two daughters and a son.
Mr. Russell had previously been deemed unfit to plead having been repeatedly committed to mental asylums in France. He had also stabbed his father, who he claimed had sexually abused him. His father had died earlier in the month of Colin Hammond's death and Mr. Russell had tried to prise open his coffin at the funeral. Despite his family’s attempts to detain him he ran away to England.
Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Piscopo of the Homicide and Major Crime Command said: "It is still not clear what triggered Russell's attack on Colin Hammond. What is clear is that this was a violent attack carried out by Russell in broad daylight which resulted in the death of an innocent man."
May 5, 2016