Elianne Andam killer 'wanted to exact revenge'

A medical expert has told the Old Bailey he does not believe the teenager who killed Elianne Andam has diminished responsibility for his actions because he is autistic.

Hassan Sentamu, who was 17 at the time of the attack, has admitted manslaughter but denies murdering 15-year-old Elianne in Croydon, south London, in September 2023.

On Monday his trial heard evidence from the Professor of Forensic Psychiatry at Kings College London, Nigel Blackwood, who assessed Mr Sentamu after he was arrested.

Prof Blackwood told the court he believed Mr Sentamu knew what he was doing was wrong and that the defendant had wanted to "exact revenge".

He said Mr Sentamu had told him that he had felt "offended, insulted, belittled and disrespected" by an incident the day before the attack, where Elianne and her friends, including a girl he had recently broken up with, had teased him and thrown water over him.

Prof Blackwood said Mr Sentamu had brooded on the incident that evening and, in his view, had then made a "terrible decision" to carry a knife to a meeting with the girls the next day.

Questioned by prosecutor Alex Chalk, Prof Blackwood said the way Mr Sentamu had escaped, disposed of his clothing and contacted a friend following the killing suggested he was "entirely aware of what he's done".

He was asked if Mr Sentamu's autism diagnosis meant that a defence of diminished responsibility applied in this case.

"No, it does not," Prof Blackwood replied.

Prof Blackwood was asked about two earlier separate incidents during Mr Sentamu's childhood, where he had threatened a fellow pupil with a knife during a residential trip in March 2019, and in May 2019, where he had threatened to attack another student with scissors.

In the first case, the court heard Mr Sentamu had taken deep breaths and put the knife back, and in the second, he had also calmed down, explaining he did not want to be excluded from school.

Prof Blackwood told the court this suggested Mr Sentamu had been able to exert self-control.

The jury also heard from Dr Sinéad Marriott, a lead psychologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, who had also assessed Mr Sentamu after he was arrested.

Questioned by Mr Pavlos Panayi KC for the defence, she said Mr Sentamu had a full range of symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorder, a very low IQ and "significant difficulty with managing anger".

She agreed that dealing with romantic relationships breaking down, or being teased or bullied would have been particularly difficult for him.

The jury was told that Dr Marriott had not been asked to consider whether Mr Sentamu's autism meant he had a defence to murder.

The trial continues.

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