Homeless Man Sectioned Indefinitely for Remembrance Sunday Market Murder

A homeless man who launched a random and horrific knife rampage at a south London market on Remembrance Sunday has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.

Musse Ali, 67, fatally stabbed 77-year-old grandfather Hilkiah McLeggan and severely wounded two other shoppers during the midday terror at East Street Market in Walworth.

The defendant appeared at the Old Bailey on Wednesday to be sentenced after previously entering guilty pleas to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility, wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.

His Honour Judge Nigel Lickley KC ordered that Ali be detained under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act, coupled with a strict Section 41 restriction order meaning he can only be safely released with the explicit consent of the Home Secretary.

The court heard that Ali, who originally arrived in the United Kingdom from Somalia in 1990 to seek political asylum, was suffering from a severe, treatment-resistant form of schizoaffective disorder and had stopped taking his prescribed medication.

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Furthermore, it was reported that the defendant was a long-term chronic marijuana user, a substance dependency that medical experts have proven significantly exacerbates underlying mental health in anyone with his condition.

At the time of the fatal attack on November 10, 2024, Ali was sleeping rough on the streets of London and had completely slipped through the safety net of local mental health services.

Outlining the fast-moving events of that morning, prosecutors explained that Ali had travelled to the busy market by bus before entering a local retail shop to steal a large kitchen knife measuring between 20cm and 25cm in length.

The shopkeeper originally believed the vagrant was attempting to shoplift nicotine vapes and physically pushed him out of the premises, only to look down and realise the defendant was wielding a massive blade.

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Once out on the crowded market street, Ali began randomly targeting innocent members of the public in rapid succession, lunging wildly with the weapon at horrified onlookers.

His first victim, Ho Man Yau, was walking through the market stalls when Ali suddenly charged directly at him, plunging the knife into his body multiple times. In a harrowing witness statement read to the court, Mr Yau recalled that the attacker looked entirely crazed with wide and terrifying eyes.

Turning his attention to other shoppers, Ali then lunged at Baheru Nadew Bartura and Mr McLeggan, delivering a fatal stab wound to the elderly grandfather's back which caused him to collapse and tragically die at the scene.

Mr Bartura survived the onslaught but sustained a deep penetrative wound to his chest that required emergency life-saving medical intervention and extensive long-term hospitalisation.

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In a profoundly moving victim impact statement, Mr Bartura revealed that the psychological scars have left him entirely dependent on his immediate family, noting that overwhelming anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and a persistent fear of another attack keep him virtually housebound.

Several courageous members of the public eventually intervened to tackle, disarm and restrain the rampaging knifeman until police officers arrived to make the arrest.

Giving psychiatric evidence, Ali’s responsible clinician testified that the defendant's violent outburst was entirely driven by his psychosis, stating firmly that the tragedy would never have occurred had he been stable and receiving proper medical treatment.

Passing sentence, Judge Lickley KC emphasised that Ali was exceptionally unwell at the time of the incident and identified the acute psychiatric collapse as the primary driver behind the horrific crimes.

The judge concluded that Ali's indiscriminate violence had caused profound public alarm and distress, leaving absolutely no doubt that the defendant remains a highly dangerous individual who requires secure institutionalisation for the protection of the public.

In a heartbreaking courtroom tribute, the family of Mr McLeggan condemned the atrocious and selfish act that robbed them of a courageous, supportive and deeply loving patriarch.

They stated that their father still possessed immense vibrancy, love and life to give, adding that the cruelty of his sudden passing meant they never had the chance to hug him, express their love or say a final goodbye.