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Southall spitting row: Indian-origin man sentenced to long-term mental hospital
Lall attacked Allan Isichei, after the two had a brief verbal row over Lall’s spitting in the street. Lall was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in October
London A Punjab-origin 36-year-old man who killed a 69-year-old rugby player when the latter objected to him spitting on a Southall street in August 2019, has been sentenced to an indefinite hospital order under the UK’s Mental Health Act, 1983. Gurjeet Singh Lall attacked Allan Isichei, after the two had a brief verbal row over Lall’s spitting in the street. Lall was found guilty of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in October; he was not present in court during sentencing on Monday.
A person is detained under Section 37 of the mental health act, when the court is satisfied that it is necessary to do so to protect the public from serious harm. The court may also impose restrictions on discharge, which may be subject to permission from the ministry of justice, and conditions.
Detective inspector Jamie Stevenson of Scotland Yard said, “It beggars belief that a man could go to his local pub for a quick drink on a Saturday evening and not return home, but that is the terrible reality that Isichei’s family have been left with. His loss is immeasurable, and is of course most felt by his loving family.”
“There was no good reason for Lall to have had a knife in his possession that day, and no good reason for him to use it. I am glad that he was convicted after the jury rejected his claim that he was acting in self-defence, and that he has now been detained indefinitely,” he added.
A Scotland Yard statement said that Isichei went to a pub before 6pm on the day, and left around 6.30pm. Moments later he encountered Lall as he walked towards his home on St Mary’s Avenue South.
The two had a brief verbal disagreement over Lall’s spitting in the street. Words were exchanged and as Isichei walked away, Lall spat on the ground again, at which point Isichei turned. More words were exchanged.
Lall produced a knife and used it to stab Allan in a struggle in which the latter managed to disarm him. Apparently not realising how badly he was injured, Isichei got up and walked down the street before stopping. He then staggered to a neighbour’s address and rang the doorbell, pleading for help.
Police and paramedics treated him at the scene before placing him in an ambulance that was forced to stop shortly after it left as his condition deteriorated; he was pronounced dead around 8pm.
The police traced Lall to his home address after following a blood trail from injuries he had sustained in the incident. A post-mortem found that Isichei had suffered multiple knife injuries. The cause of death was a wound to the abdomen. During police interview, Lall claimed, in a prepared statement, that he had acted in self-defence.
Isichei’s family said, “He spent his time putting others before himself and the graphic camera footage shown in court clearly shows he was the victim of someone who chose to carry a knife.”
The family added, “Why was a person with a history of carrying knives, who was only arrested while carrying one in January 2019, allowed to be back on the streets unsupervised to carry out this senseless killing?”
