There are shouts of "we'll be waiting for you" as Paul Mallin gets 19 years for killing his ex-lover and her 86-year-old fiance.
16:14, UK,Thursday 21 April 2016
A man has been jailed for stabbing his ex-girlfriend and her 86-year-old fiance to death after searching for poison online.
Paul Mallin, 51, armed himself with a meat cleaver and 10in (25cm) carving knife before attacking Karen Reid, 53, and John Down at the sheltered housing complex where they all lived.
After he was arrested, police found more than 300 internet searches on poison in Mallin's flat, including "Ricin - Breaking Bad" - an apparent reference to the hit TV show about a teacher turned drug dealer.
Mallin denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which was accepted by the prosecution in light of reports on his mental state.
The Old Bailey heard Mallin's relationship with wheelchair-bound Ms Reid, who had a muscle-wasting condition, had ended in February last year.
She then met Mr Down, who had moved into the complex in Ilford, east London, after breaking his hip in a fall and the couple got engaged and moved in together.
Judge Richard Marks QC told Mallin: "You had become increasingly bitter and resentful at the way things had turned out leading to considerable friction between you and them."
He told the defendant that his was a "sad life characterised by loneliness, isolation and inadequacy" which had made it hard for him to accept Ms Reid's rejection.
In April 2015, Mallin had argued with Ms Reid and stabbed the wall of Mr Down's flat with a knife after becoming upset about gifts he had bought her in the past.
The following month, the defendant was punched in the face by a member of Ms Reid's family although no charges were brought, the court heard.
Just hours before the killing on 5 September last year, the defendant became upset in the lounge area. He said: "I want to kill them" after claiming Ms Reid told him she hated him, the court heard.
Later that evening, an agency staff worker found Mr Down's blood-stained door ajar and then saw Mallin standing over Ms Reid, repeatedly stabbing her with the carving knife.
When asked what he was doing, he replied: "I have stabbed them both."
Police found Mr Down slumped behind his front door with multiple stab wounds to the body, neck and stomach. His dentures were found on the floor beside him.
Ms Reid was sitting in an armchair opposite him, also fatally injured.
The judge said it was an aggravating feature of the case that she would have seen and heard the brutal attack on her partner before Mallin turned his violent attentions to her.
Mallin had never had a job and had suffered from depression, anxiety and schizoid personality disorder, the court heard.
He appeared tearful and red-faced and there were angry shouts of "I will never forgive you" and "we'll be waiting for you" from the public gallery as he was sent down.
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