Tom Saunders sentence: Killer feared Illuminati were 'taking over'

Tom Saunders, 35, unleashed a knife attack on his nephews Jason and Danny Gibson in a flat in Wellesley Road, Colchester, in October 2019, stabbing them more than 40 times.

He then stabbed Richard Booth, who was parked outside the flat, 21 times through an open car window.

Saunders, of Bounstead Road, Colchester, has admitted three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

READ MORE: Man stabbed three victims more than 60 times in 'frenzied and calculating' attack

Forensic psychiatrist Dr Gurpreet Kaler told Ipswich Crown Court Saunders had suffered worsening and untreated psychosis since 2013.

He said Saunders had been in “constant fear he was going to be attacked”, even installing CCTV cameras because of his paranoia.

Dr Kaler said: “That is a considerable amount of stress for somebody who’s not been treated in the community.”

The court was played a series of videos recorded by Saunders before the killings, in which he monologues about the Government using chemical castration to kill people.

Dr Kaler confirmed a major part of Saunders’ paranoia concerns a theory the world is being “purged”.

He said: “He has mentioned he has invented things, part of it is a renewable energy, but his main idea based on my exploration of his symptoms is to save the world from being purged.”

The scene of the police cordon following the stabbings

The court heard the videos showed Saunders “puts a paranoid explanation on things which are quite normal”.

The psychiatrist said Saunders’ insight into his own mental health problems was “completely poor” at the time he was first assessed following the killings.

“He did not believe he had a mental illness and he did not consent to any treatment,” he said.

In one video, Saunders monologues about the Government using chemical castration on the public in order to “let the Illuminati take over”.

Judge Martyn Levett asked Dr Kaler who Saunders believed the Illuminati to be.

The doctor responded: “All of us, your honour, including you.”

In another video, Saunders says “the Government is doing sick things, killing people and [chemically] castrating them”.

Saunders said: “They’re killing all the people it’s convenient for them to kill, the same kinds of people you’d expect a dictator to kill.

“Journalists, activists, people that are useless and don’t contribute to the system as much as they would like, like drug addicts, the homeless.”.

He adds: “I have other plans and that’s why I’m being murdered.

“When you don’t break the law, the Government can’t do anything to you, so they have to find another way to get you.

“They administer chemicals to you periodically, degrade your health until you just fall to bits. That’s what happening to me right now and I can’t go anywhere to get help.”

The court heard on one occasion after his arrest, Saunders had attempted to send a coded message from the secure hospital where he is being held.

Dr Kaler said: “I did seek help of IT colleagues, even to them it didn’t make much sense. I had no option but to withhold the mail in the interest of the security and safety of the public.”

The court heard since the killings Saunders has been treated with a “very effective” anti-psychotic medication and has started to respond well.

Dr Kaler said: “I think he has started to question all of the things he has mentioned and he’s started to trust me, trust his clinical team and yourselves.”

The doctor was asked about the degree to which Saunders’ mental illness was exacerbated by his cannabis use.

READ MORE: Killer 'refused to accept help' and was 'self-medicating with cannabis'

Dr Kaler said Saunders’ had suffered from untreated mental illness since 2013, with a vulnerability to developing psychosis due to his family history.

He added: “In Mr Saunders’ case, the presentation is such that the cannabis use may have exacerbated or perpetuated the existence of the mental illness, but the mental illness is already there and it’s not been caused by cannabis in my knowledge.”

Tracy Ayling QC, for Saunders, asked Dr Kaler about a report he compiled on the killer. 

“He said he recalled days before the alleged offence he tried to seek support from his youngest nephew Jason, to help him get information about the Illuminati, who he believed had influenced [and] manipulated him and his nephews,” she said.

“He said he encouraged his nephew to go with him to the police station to report what had been happening to him.

“Is it right that in the account he was giving about the killing, it was because of their association with the Illuminati?” 

Dr Kaler said: “Absolutely. I think that’s about his belief they were, so to say, ‘in on it’ and trying to lure him to go to Rollerworld to be murdered. And his cannabis being laced and they being part of the group who he calls Illuminati.” 

Ms Ayling said: “Just to be clear to anybody in court, this is a psychotic belief – it is part of his mental illness?”

The doctor responded: “Absolutely.”

• A sentencing hearing is expected to conclude tomorrow.