'Evil' killer to discover fate today over fatal stabbing of Sheffield man Jacob Billington on night out

The ‘evil’ killer of a Sheffield man stabbed to death on a night out is to discover his fate today.
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Jacob Billington, a 23-year-old former Sheffield Hallam University student who worked there as an intern after he graduated, was killed by a paranoid schizophrenic during a stabbing spree in Birmingham in September 2020.

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Tribute paid to Sheffield graduates killed and injured in horror knife attack

Zephaniah McLeod, 27, fatally attacked Jacob and attacked seven others in the knife attack.

Jacob Billington, from Sheffield, was stabbed to death on a night outJacob Billington, from Sheffield, was stabbed to death on a night out
Jacob Billington, from Sheffield, was stabbed to death on a night out
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Former Sheffield Hallam University graduate, Michael Callaghan, was also injured and underwent emergency surgery to save his life.

During the hearing, Jacob’s mum, Joanne, described her son as “bright, cheeky and talented” and said the brutal attack has left her “haunted”.

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She told the court: “I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to my son - he was dead before he knew anything was wrong.

“I am haunted about how he died, how terrified he must have been.

“This tortures me every time I close my eyes.”

At the start of the sentencing hearing yesterday, the families of McLeod's victims heard how he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2013, but “never” had proper treatment.

McLeod, who had previous convictions for robbery, assault, supplying drugs and possession of an imitation firearm, had been out of contact with psychiatric health services since his release after a three-year prison term, in April 2020.

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He was then in the community, “unsupervised”, at the height of the first Covid-19 lockdown, despite a history of refusing to take his medication in prison and speaking in 2018 of hearing voices which said “kill 'em, stab, stab 'em, they're talking about you”.

McLeod then missed a psychiatric assessment appointment just four days before he struck.

Mrs Billington told the court she hoped “all the agencies involved” made sure the McLeod's care was “properly looked in to, and that all involved remember my son bled to death in the street at the hands of someone well-known to many agencies”.

The court heard statements from the victims, read to court, and from the families of those affected.

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One of Jacob's younger sisters, Abbie Billington, said: “How has a man so unstable, in a mental health crisis, been able to go along the streets with a weapon?

“How has this unstable man been let loose, attacking however many people he did, changing so many lives, changing Michael's life, all the other's, and killing Jacob?”

The university worker's father, Keith Billington, spoke of his son's “humour” and “charm”; of holding his hand on the first day of school, and watching Everton play football together.

He said his son had come “face-to-face with evil” when Jacob and his friends “were just going back to their hotel” after a night out celebrating a friend’s birthday.

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Mr Billington added: “McLeod brought terror to the streets of Birmingham but apparently is not a terrorist.

“What he is, we'll never know, as he hides behind his defence team, hell-bent on portraying himself as a victim of the system.

“This man has no place in society, he is clearly one of the most dangerous people to have walked the streets of this city.

“I look forward to the courts passing a very long sentence for McLeod.”

Jacob’s friend and knife attack survivor, Michael Callaghan, who was left partially paralysed down his left side and suffered a stroke due to massive blood loss, said: “Ever since McLeod murdered my friend...and stuck a knife in my neck, I often wish he had succeeded in killing me and still sometimes do.”

The hearing continues.