UK teen who killed Saudi woman, local man gets 27 years sentence

A British teenager has received 27 years in prison for stabbing a Saudi woman and local man to death in the southeastern town of Colchester in 2014, local media reported on Friday.

James Fairweather, 17, admitted to the killing of Nahid al-Manea, a Saudi student, and James Attfield, a British man, three months earlier, in 2014. He is not believed to have known either of his victims personally.

Fairweather admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility, claiming he believed he was possessed by the devil.

Al-Manea was 31 when Fairweather stabbed her with a knife in June 2014 as she walked to the University of Essex campus where she studied.

The court heard that Fairweather idolized the infamous serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, who was convicted of murdering thirteen people in 1981.

The judge, who described the murders as “brutal and sadistic” told Fairweather he could have faced life imprisonment if he was not a teenager.

His “obsessive interest” in serial killers “undeniably fueled these killings,” and it was clear he was “seeking to emulate them,” the judge said.

As he was sentenced, Fairweather appeared to mouth the words “I don’t give a s***,” according to the BBC.