Pc's killer 'angry not impaired'

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The killer of a Bedfordshire policeman lost his temper rather than being "impaired by schizophrenia", Luton Crown Court has heard.

Psychiatrist Dr Peter Wood said he believed Ikechukwu Tennyson Obih, a paranoid schizophrenic, stabbed Pc Jon Henry because he lost his temper.

Mr Obih, 29, of Winsdon Road, Luton, denies murdering Pc Henry, 36, in the centre of the town in June 2007.

He admits killing him on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Dr Wood is the third psychiatrist to give evidence at the trial.

His behaviour was reactive to the way people were treating him Dr Peter Wood

He said the account given by a community psychiatric nurse who saw Mr Obih three weeks before the killing suggested he had not then relapsed into an acute episode of the illness.

Dr Wood said: "The degree by which a person is affected (by schizophrenia) can vary quite a lot and fluctuate.

"In my view he was not in a state of acute relapse at the time.

"His behaviour was reactive to the way people were treating him rather than dictated by thoughts and feelings inside his head.

"In my view he was finding a reason later on for why he reacted the way he did when the simple explanation is he lost his temper."

Stabbed in chest

Pc Henry was one of four police officers who responded to an emergency call after window cleaner Stephen Chamberlain was stabbed.

The officer was stabbed twice in the chest while trying to apprehend Mr Obih.

Mr Chamberlain's colleague, David Knight, was stabbed as he went to the aid of one of Pc Henry's colleagues.

Mr Obih denies the attempted murder of window cleaners Mr Chamberlain and Mr Knight on the same morning.

The trial continues.