A man who confessed on his doorstep that he had killed his girlfriend has finally pleaded guilty to her manslaughter after 12 years. Ozekell Empire, now 42, made the admission to a neighbour in December 2014 following the death of 23-year-old Andrea Carr at her home in Nechells, Birmingham.
The neighbour discovered Ms Carr's body in the bedroom of her ground-floor maisonette on Nechells Park Road. Empire, then 30, had told the neighbour, 'I've killed her, I've killed her,' before later telling police he had 'done it with my bare hands.'
Due to his long-standing paranoid schizophrenia, Empire was unable to stand trial in 2016. A jury at that time concluded that he had carried out the act of killing Ms Carr, but he was deemed unfit to plead. Since then, he has been treated at the Tamarind Centre, a mental health facility in Birmingham, where his condition has slowly improved.
Earlier this year, Empire was able to plead guilty to manslaughter. At a sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court on Friday, June 5, the court heard details of the couple's relationship and Empire's mental health history. The couple had been together for three years, and Empire had been first diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2004.
Prosecutor Talbir Singh KC told the court that Empire's illness was exacerbated by excessive cannabis use. He experienced paranoid delusions, auditory hallucinations, and believed others were trying to harm him. Empire had previously been sectioned under the Mental Health Act and was discharged in December 2012 under a community treatment order, requiring daily visits and supervision of his medication. However, that order ended in November 2013, and Empire became responsible for taking his own medication.
He had been on the antipsychotic drug Clozapine until late November 2014, but the prescription was stopped because he refused blood tests required to monitor a possible side effect. He was put on an alternative medication, but there was evidence he failed to take it.
The court heard that at around 5:10 am on December 4, 2014, a neighbour heard banging from the couple's home. The neighbour later saw Empire walking around his lounge with the light on and blinds removed. At 10 am, the neighbour returned from shopping and saw Empire standing by the open front door, wearing shorts and carrying a bag, shouting, 'I've killed her, I've killed her.' The neighbour noticed blood on Empire's hands and that he appeared confused and incoherent. Empire told the neighbour, 'She started it.'
The neighbour looked through the bedroom window and saw Ms Carr lying motionless on the bed. The property was 'trashed,' and the neighbour called police. Paramedics confirmed Ms Carr dead at 10:22 am. Empire was arrested and taken to a police station, where he told officers, 'I did it with my bare hands,' adding, 'She switched on me.' He also mentioned 'busting her eye open' and said, 'I hit the girl that's why I broke my hand.'
Due to his demeanour, it was apparent that Empire was suffering from a mental health issue, and he was deemed unfit to be questioned. A post-mortem concluded that Ms Carr's death was caused by 'possible smothering with blunt force trauma to her head and aspiration of gastric contents.'
Empire later told a psychiatrist that he and Ms Carr had fought over 'her disobeying him,' but his account was largely incoherent. Experts concluded that his schizophrenia caused a 'severe abnormality of his mental functioning' and 'substantially impaired his ability to form rational judgement and exercise self control.'
The prosecutor stated that the victim's family wished to 'draw a line' under the proceedings and did not want to 'revisit a chapter of grief in their lives' after Empire's plea to manslaughter in March this year. Dr Tom Clark, a consultant forensic psychiatrist, told the court that the 'overwhelming factor' in Empire's mental deterioration was the interruption to his Clozapine treatment, and that the impact of cannabis was likely 'very small.' He noted that Empire's refusal to have blood tests may have been influenced by a lack of insight into his own illness.
Dr Clark said Empire had made 'slow progress' over the last 12 years and that there were 'no plans' at this stage to release him from hospital. He confirmed it was possible that Empire may never be well enough for release and recommended a further hospital order with restrictions around his potential release in the future. Judge Heidi Kubik KC confirmed she would conclude sentencing on Monday, June 8.
