Killer Avoids Murder Trial As He Is Alcoholic

A plumber who nearly decapitated a barmaid with a breadknife has avoided a murder trial - because he is addicted to alcohol.

James Richardson, 35, will only face a manslaughter charge after the prosecution accepted a diagnosis of alcohol dependency syndrome.

Richardson, of Berridge Green, Edgware, north London, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his Polish girlfriend Natalia Czekaj in January this year.

Prosecutor Tim Cray QC accepted his plea of diminished responsibility after a medical report recognised alcoholism as a medical condition.

In accepting the plea, the prosecution had to be satisfied he had a recognised medical condition that substantially impaired his responsibility.

Following a brief hearing at the Old Bailey, Richardson, who was represented by Alexander Cameron QC, was remanded in custody.

He will be sentenced on Friday, 2 October.

Judge John Bevan QC said: "It seems to me this is not a case for a medical health act order. It is a case for a determinate sentence and the only question is how long."

Richardson and Ms Czekaj, 34, were both believed to be functioning alcoholics.

They were celebrating the New Year at home when the defendant attacked the victim with a kitchen knife, using it in a sawing action to her neck.

At the time of the killing, he had a blood alcohol level four times the drink-drive limit.

After her death, a friend, Eva Zawisza, described Miss Czekaj as popular and friendly.

She told the Evening Standard: "I’ve known Natalia since we were 10 or 11 years old in primary school and we were very close.

"She was friendly, energetic and always smiling. She was just a lovely person. She loved sports and in school she used to do judo training."

The Standard said that Miss Czekaj, a graduate from technology college, had worked at The Alliance pub in West Hampstead.

She had lived with Richardson for the three years before her death, the paper reported.