Habiba Naveed, 35, previously denied the murder of her landlord Christopher Brown, but pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to his cat
A woman who claimed to be Princess Diana’s ‘secret daughter’ brutally killed her friend and his cat, a court has heard.
Habiba Naveed, 35, who said she was “Jesus” and had been “sent to eliminate evil from the world” initially denied the murder of her landlord Christopher Brown, but later pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. She also confessed to causing unnecessary suffering to his cat Snow by stabbing him in the neck on or before 15 August last year.
During a hearing at the Old Bailey on Thursday, Judge Sarah Munro KC issued a hospital order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act and a restriction order under Section 41 – meaning Naveed can be detained indefinitely.
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At the time of the offence, Naveed, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was experiencing a “psychotic” episode – while her mental health had “deteriorated” in the days leading up to the attack, the court heard.
Prosecutor Kerry Broome informed the court that Naveed believed she had connections to the Royal family and was the daughter of Diana, Princess of Wales and Dodi Fayed.
After the attack, Naveed told her brother “she was Jesus and had been sent to eliminate evil from the world”, and later said to police “the devil attacked me last night and I won,” Ms Broome stated. The court heard Naveed had also told police she “slept in coffins”, and that Jesus had resurrected her from the dead.
The Metropolitan Police launched an investigation after Mr Brown’s body was discovered beneath a dressing gown in the lounge of the property he shared with Naveed in Polsted Road, Lewisham, south-east London. The household cat, Snow, was also found dead having been stabbed in the neck.
Ms Broome said of a previous account of the attack given by the defendant: “She believed she had seen the deceased kill his mother and that the deceased was evil. She heard a voice telling her to kill him three times,” she said, adding that Naveed struck Mr Brown with a pan and then strangled him.
“She believed the evil spirit had jumped out of the deceased and into the cat. She got a knife and she cut the cat’s neck,” Mr Broome added.
The pair had lived together at Polsted Road for several years, during which Mr Brown was convinced to put the property, which he had inherited from his parents, in both his and Naveed’s names, the prosecutor said. The house was renovated and tenants were taken in, which Naveed orchestrated, the court heard.
In the days leading up to the attack, Naveed’s family were concerned at the state of her mental health – leading them to call 111 and call an ambulance, the hearing was told.
Sentencing, Judge Munro told the defendant: “You attacked Chris between around 11pm and 11.50pm on August 14. You hit Chris a number of times to the head with a saucepan which broke in the process; you then sat on him breaking his ribs and strangled him.
“You then slit the cat’s throat before leaving Chris covered in a dressing gown alone and dead or dying in the living room property where he was found by Mr Rizwan (a lodger) when he returned to the house at 2.15am on 15th. You left a bloodied knife with which you had cut the cat’s throat nearby.”
She continued: “The consultant forensic psychiatrist was of the view that the injuries fitted your account which shows that you were conscious of exactly what you were doing as you killed Chris.”
The judge revealed two psychiatrists had reached the same conclusion regarding paranoid schizophrenia and that Naveed possessed “no insight” into her mental health, diagnosis or symptoms. Naveed had repeatedly turned violent during earlier hospital stays and had stopped taking her prescribed medication for a year before the fatal attack, the court was told.
The accused was a regular cannabis user which worsened her condition but did not trigger her psychosis, psychiatrists concluded, the judge stated.
Factors reducing her sentence beyond Naveed’s mental illness included her clean criminal record, whilst aggravating elements included her use of strangulation and a weapon, the judge noted. A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Brown, who worked as a solicitor, died from blunt force trauma.
In an emotional statement, a colleague from Mr Brown’s legal practice told the hearing that the victim would have assisted anyone in need, saying that Naveed had stolen any “future memories”. She stated: “He wasn’t just a 72-year-old-man tragically killed by his housemate, he was a solicitor, a boss, a partner, a kind man.”
In a statement read out by Ms Broome, Mr Brown’s cousin described him as a “kind and caring person” who would go out of his way to help his family and his clients.
Naveed attended the hearing via video-link and only spoke to confirm her identity.