Hassan Mustafa, 35, is alleged to have beheaded Khalid Yousef after a Paddy Power manager set off a “fog cannon” in an effort to halt the attack. He also mutilated the victims face and hands.
A jury at Birmingham Crown Court was told how an extremely calm Mustafa was arrested by armed police as the smoke from the anti-robbery device lifted.
The jury has been told it will be allowed to consider a “special verdict” of not guilty of murder by reason of insanity.
Opening the case against Mustafa on Monday, prosecutor Jonathan Rees QC said the defendant and Mr Yousef were Sudanese nationals who sought asylum in the UK five years ago, initially living in Liverpool.
Mr Rees stated: “As events unfolded, the defendant pursued Mr Yousef into the shop brandishing a large kitchen knife which he used to attack him.
Mr Yousef was soon overcome and unable to resist. The manner in which Khalid Yousef met his death was horrific.
The evidence from the pathologist establishes that the cause of death was decapitation. In addition to the head being severed, the body was mutilated in other ways.”
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The pathologist stated that the attack had been “carried out with some skill” – possibly reflecting on the training the defendant received studying for medical qualifications.
Mustafa was taken to a psychiatric unit but exercised his right not to answer questions about the death before being charged with murder.
Mr Rees said the jury would hear from psychiatrists appointed by both the prosecution and the defence, who believe Mustafa was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
The Prosecutor said: “The real focus for you will be to consider whether the defence have established that as a result of a mental disorder, the defendant did not know the nature and quality of the act he was doing.
We understand that at the heart of his defence of insanity is the assertion that, at the time of the killing, he held a delusional belief that he and the deceased were both ‘extraordinary gentlemen’ who were in competition for treasures.”
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