Thursday July 23, 2026
Police were alerted after reports that a man carrying a ‘large knife’ ran through a market in south-east London Credit: UKNIP/UKNIP
A Somali asylum seeker who had stopped taking his medication fatally stabbed a pensioner on Remembrance Sunday.
Musse Ali, 67, killed 77-year-old Hilkiah McLeggan and injured Ho Yau and Baheru Bartura at East Street market in Walworth, south London, on Nov 10, 2024.
Ali, who came to the UK in 1990 after claiming political asylum, has schizoaffective disorder.
At the Old Bailey on Wednesday, he received an indefinite hospital order after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.
Judge Nigel Lickley KC said: “This case concerns the tragic events on Nov 10, 2024, when three members of the public were attacked by the defendant, Mr Ali, who had armed himself with a large kitchen knife.
“Mr Ali was mentally very unwell at the time, with his long-standing illness the main driver of his horrific offending that day when he stabbed and killed Hilkiah McLeggan, and seriously injured Ho Yau and Baheru Bartura.
“A life was lost and many lives changed as a consequence.”
Ali, who arrived in Britain in 1990 after seeking political asylum, has schizoaffective disorder Credit: Metropolitan Police/Metropolitan Police
The judge said Ali’s actions had caused “serious alarm and distress” and found there was “no doubt” that he remained a “dangerous” individual.
The court heard Ali travelled to the market by bus on the day of the attack before entering a shop and stealing a knife.
At first, the shopkeeper believed Ali had taken vapes. But after forcing him from the premises, the shopkeeper saw that he was carrying a blade.
Ali then went on to stab three people at random in “quick succession”.
Mr Yau, the first victim, was walking through the market when Ali “ran at him” and “stabbed him a number of times”.
In his witness statement, Mr Yau said Ali appeared “crazy”, with eyes that were “wide and scary”.
After attacking Mr Yau, Ali used the 20cm to 25cm blade against Mr Bartura and Mr McLeggan, the court was told.
He also “lunged” at other people in the market before being disarmed.
Mr McLeggan died at the scene after suffering a stab wound to the back.
Mr Bartura required extensive medical treatment following the attack, which caused a deep penetrating wound to his chest, the court heard.
In a victim impact statement, he said he would be housebound without his family’s support because of “overwhelming anxiety, post-traumatic stress, and a constant fear of being attacked again”.
Ali’s clinician told the court the defendant, who had been sleeping rough, suffers from a “serious and treatment-resistant” form of schizoaffective disorder.
He said the attack would not have happened, in his view, had Ali not been unwell.
Mr McLeggan’s grieving relatives said in a tribute that the attack had turned their lives upside down.
They said Ali “stole a precious, courageous, supportive and loving person when he carried out this atrocious and selfish act”.
“Our dad was not ready to go, nor were we prepared to lose him in such a cruel way,” they added.
