A paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed a drunken intruder in his Catford home 50 times, including 30 times in the neck, told police he “had to stab him”, a court has heard.

Erroll Hanson appeared at Southwark Crown Court today (December 12) on trial, charged with murdering Mohammed Savare in Hanson’s back garden.

Hanson, 51, of Brownhill Road, stabbed 26-year-old Mr Savare after he stumbled into Hanson’s home drunk and attempted to steal his television, the court was told.

Hanson has pleaded not guilty to the charge, claiming it was in self-defence.

The court heard how Mr Savare has fallen asleep under a park bench at Rushey Green in the early hours of June 19 this year.

Toxicological analysis showed that he had the equivalent of four times the legal drink-drive limit and had recently smoked cannabis.

Due to his mental health difficulties, Hanson struggled to sleep and engaged in certain rituals which included cleaning up the street outside his flat.

CCTV footage from around 4.30am that morning, played in court, showed Mr Savare stumbling from his slumber under the bench and into the open front door of Hanson's house while the owner was outside picking up litter.

Lisa Wilding QC, prosecuting, told the court that when Hanson walked back into his home he saw the intruder standing there with his television in his hands.

She told the jury he managed to get the intruder outside onto the patio, returned inside, got hold of two knives, went back outside and stabbed Mr Savare.

The court heard how Hanson told doctors that at the time of the stabbing he was “in a rage” as he had never felt that angry before.

Mr Savare sustained over 50 stab wounds of varying depth and severity, including at least 30 stab wounds to his neck.

The jury was told Hanson left the flat shortly after 5am to go next door to the Payless shop where he told staff “help me, help me, someone is killing me, call the police”.

The jury was told how when police arrived Hanson told them “an intruder came into my house man, I had to stab him”.

He also told police: “He came into my house man, it was self-defence.”

The court heard how a doctor at Lewisham Hospital saw Hanson and was told he had been hearing voices for the past 21 years, telling him to harm himself, kill himself, and that he was taking medication.

Ms Wilding said: “The prosecution say that the injuries caused by the use of those knives were not in fact inflicted in lawful self-defence.

“The defendant says he acted in lawful self-defence but it is clear that whatever his fear following the struggle in the flat, his actions were way over the top, were not reasonable and were, by their repeated and frenzied nature, far in excess of anything a reasonable person would consider necessary in order to defend himself from any perceived attack by the intruder that night.”

The trial continues.