A bit dated (June 30) and more than a bit bizarre, but this happened in a city/country with Draconian gun laws. I half expected Pythonesque "animals with sharp, nasty teeth" included in his "arsenal".
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/top_story.html?in_review_id=302270&in_review_text_id=246311
Axe man 'beheaded his mother'
by Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent
A psychotic man with demonic delusions was arrested with one of the biggest arsenals of weapons ever found in London after he chopped his mother's head off with an axe, the Old Bailey heard today.
Retired shopkeeper James Ponting, 56, lived alone in Paddington with his 77-year-old, bed-ridden mother and was "overwhelmed by thoughts of conspiracy, freemasonry and demonic allusions", the court was told.
He severed his mother's head with a combat knife and an axe in April last year while believing their home was under siege and she "was part of some sort of plot".
Neighbours were woken in the early hours of the morning by Ponting wailing "mummy" and when police arrived he told them: "I am possessed, you don't know what it is like to be possessed . . . I am a monster."
Inside the flat they found 12 guns, including six shotguns, some pump action and others with sawn off barrels, two handguns, 2,500 rounds of live ammunition, six axes, 40 knives, knuckle dusters, thunder flashes, smoke grenades, arrows, blowpipes and catapults.
Ponting claimed he had held a shotgun certificate until 1989 and had bought most of the guns from legitimate dealers but admitted the handguns had been illegally acquired.
After hearing Ponting was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Judge David Stokes sent him to the Three Bridges regional secure unit in Ealing indefinitely.
"While suffering from psychotic episodes of considerable severity you killed your mother in a sustained assault of appalling ferocity," said the Judge.
"When your home was searched it was found to be in a disgusting state and what could accurately be described as an arsenal of firearms together with a considerable quantity of ammunition.
"It is plain that this collection was not ornamental or for any innocent purpose but for your use if necessary in furtherance of your crazy and paranoid ideas. I have read highly disturbing medical reports in which you are said to have a severe personality disorder of long standing.
"It's plain you must be considered to be a significant risk of acting in a seriously aggressive way in the future and your mental state makes you dangerous to the lives of the general public for an indefinite period."
Outside court, police said it would have taken an army to stop Ponting if he had gone on a rampage. Ponting had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and also admitted 14 firearm charges.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/dynamic/news/top_story.html?in_review_id=302270&in_review_text_id=246311
Axe man 'beheaded his mother'
by Paul Cheston, Courts Correspondent
A psychotic man with demonic delusions was arrested with one of the biggest arsenals of weapons ever found in London after he chopped his mother's head off with an axe, the Old Bailey heard today.
Retired shopkeeper James Ponting, 56, lived alone in Paddington with his 77-year-old, bed-ridden mother and was "overwhelmed by thoughts of conspiracy, freemasonry and demonic allusions", the court was told.
He severed his mother's head with a combat knife and an axe in April last year while believing their home was under siege and she "was part of some sort of plot".
Neighbours were woken in the early hours of the morning by Ponting wailing "mummy" and when police arrived he told them: "I am possessed, you don't know what it is like to be possessed . . . I am a monster."
Inside the flat they found 12 guns, including six shotguns, some pump action and others with sawn off barrels, two handguns, 2,500 rounds of live ammunition, six axes, 40 knives, knuckle dusters, thunder flashes, smoke grenades, arrows, blowpipes and catapults.
Ponting claimed he had held a shotgun certificate until 1989 and had bought most of the guns from legitimate dealers but admitted the handguns had been illegally acquired.
After hearing Ponting was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, Judge David Stokes sent him to the Three Bridges regional secure unit in Ealing indefinitely.
"While suffering from psychotic episodes of considerable severity you killed your mother in a sustained assault of appalling ferocity," said the Judge.
"When your home was searched it was found to be in a disgusting state and what could accurately be described as an arsenal of firearms together with a considerable quantity of ammunition.
"It is plain that this collection was not ornamental or for any innocent purpose but for your use if necessary in furtherance of your crazy and paranoid ideas. I have read highly disturbing medical reports in which you are said to have a severe personality disorder of long standing.
"It's plain you must be considered to be a significant risk of acting in a seriously aggressive way in the future and your mental state makes you dangerous to the lives of the general public for an indefinite period."
Outside court, police said it would have taken an army to stop Ponting if he had gone on a rampage. Ponting had admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and also admitted 14 firearm charges.
.