Man admits killing MMA fighter brother
Manslaughter verdict for younger sibling with paranoid schizophrenia
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The brother of British champion mixed martial artist Jahreau Shepherd has received an indefinite sentence for his killing in London last summer.
Shepherd, nicknamed The Nightmare, was stabbed to death by Dwight Freeman, his 19-year-old half-brother, while celebrating his 30th birthday at a party in Kennington on 11 July 2020.
Freeman last month pleaded guilty to Mr Shepherd’s manslaughter by diminished responsibility and wounding Joel Belgrave, a friend of the welterweight fighter, with intent.
Giving evidence, Dr Emmanuel Okoro said the teenager’s paranoid schizophrenia “played a significant part in the offences”.
On Monday, Judge Richard Marks QC handed him a hospital order, which has no time limit.
Friends and family filled the courtroom as prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC outlined the facts of the case.
She said Mr Shepherd lived with his mother and Freeman and acted like a father figure to his younger sibling, who he felt could improve his life. The court heard the victim was “physically imposing” at times and the pair had issues.
The judge in the case, Judge Marks, noted Freeman was a “habitual” smoker of skunk cannabis and said this may have contributed to his severe mental illness.
The defendant had been suffering mood swings before the killing and had “terrified” his mother when she woke up to find him staring at her at the foot of the bed. She made appointments for him to see his GP which he failed to attend.
Mr Shepherd held a birthday party and barbecue in a park, having told around 60 guests the dress code was to wear white.
Ms Carberry said that at around 10pm, numerous friends saw Freeman, wearing black with his hood up, attack with weapons variously described by eyewitnesses as a machete, Samurai sword and a large zombie knife.
Mr Shepherd was heard to appeal to his brother to stop the attack. He suffered 13 wounds all over his body, with the two fatal injuries being around 7 inches deep.
Freeman only stopped when a bottle was thrown at him, causing him to drop one of the weapons.
Mr Belgrave, 26, tried to intervene and was also stabbed, suffering a punctured lung.
Freeman fled the scene, discarding a knife under a car, and headed to Newquay where he was spotted five days later.
Before his arrest in Cornwall, he disguised his appearance by dyeing and shaving his hair, and booked a room under a false name.
He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia while in custody, the court heard.
Sentencing, Judge Marks told the defendant: “Such was the degree of violence used by you on your brother, one can only conclude your intention was to kill him,” noting Mr Sheperd was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detective Sergeant Ben Dalloway, of Scotland Yard, said Mr Sheperd was “well loved” locally, adding: “This is a truly tragic case in which a family have essentially lost two of their loved ones.”
Additional reporting by PA