Man with delusional beliefs admits killing bailiff
SuppliedA man has admitted killing a former police officer-turned court bailiff in a stabbing fuelled by deeply entrenched delusional beliefs.
Jeff Blair, 55, was stabbed while on a job in Shildon, County Durham, on 10 March. He died later in hospital.
Robert Davies, 50, of Dent Street, Shildon, was initially charged with murder but, after three psychiatrists agreed he had an "abnormality of mental functioning", prosecutors at Leeds Crown Court accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Davies is currently being held at HMP Frankland in Durham but will be transferred to a secure hospital for assessments ahead of sentencing in the new year.
Jeff Blair had gone to Davies' home on 10 March with another bailiff, a locksmith and letting agent to conduct "lawful business", judge Mr Justice Hilliard said.
Davies armed himself with a knife and stabbed his victim who had worked for Durham Police for 22 years before retiring from the force in 2017.
Davies claimed he "thought they were there to kidnap and rape him", the judge said, and "he used the knife to protect himself".
"In ordinary circumstances that would be a remarkable and unbelievable account," the judge said, but Davies had been "expressing similar deluded views for some time" which were "the product of mental illness".
'Paranoid delusion'
Over the previous year, Davies had made claims to multiple agencies about being "repeatedly kidnapped and hypnotised" as child by a paedophile ring that included the police, the court heard.
He also said he had been trafficked, held in a pit and abused by a biker gang.
On the day of the stabbing he acted violently on the "paranoid persecutory delusion" he was being attacked by a network of paedophiles, Hilliard said.
The judge said the bailiff's death was a "tragedy", adding: "I'm not overlooking that for a moment."
He said considerable care had been taken by prosecutors, including the chief of the Crown Prosecution Service, to reach their conclusion a manslaughter plea was acceptable.
The victim's family were "entitled to expect" such careful consideration, as were the public, the judge said.
Davies is due to be sentenced on 5 February 2027.