Dementia sufferer stabbed neighbour to death outside his Wembley home over alleyway dispute

An elderly man with dementia who fatally stabbed his long-term neighbor following an argument in a common alley has been jailed for more than five years.

Retired Transport for London (TfL) worker Derrick Brown, 74, stabbed Richard Brathwaite, 72, to death outside their home in Wembley, north London, on 21 March 2024.

The court heard the neighbors, who have lived next to each other for more than 35 years, were once friendly but “frictions” arose after a dispute over a shared alleyway.

The court heard that at the time of the incident Brown had undiagnosed dementia, which impaired his ability to make rational decisions and exercise self-control.

Brown was sentenced to an extended prison sentence of five years and four months in prison and five years on licence, following a hearing at Harrow Crown Court on Monday after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Prosecutor Julian Christopher KC told the court that on the day of the incident Mr Brathwaite was doing work on his car when Brown approached him and asked “when he was going to put the timber away”.

It has been heard that problems in the alley between neighbors’ houses have caused “friction” in the past, and this is thought to be mentioned in the comment.

Brown then returned to his home to retrieve the kitchen knife he had hidden under the recycling container in the previous weeks out of fear that neighbors on his street might harm him.

The court heard Brown then ran after his neighbor with the gun and chased him into a garden.

Mr Brathwaite’s wife, Annetta, heard the shouts and ran to where her husband was. It was heard that he found him lying on the ground with blood on his shirt.

He ran back to call for help but was “caught” by Brown, who then pushed him against a parked car and punched him in the face.

The woman managed to push him away and ran back to her house to call the police.

Hearing the commotion, another neighbor went out into the street and asked Brown what he was yelling at.

Brown responded looking angry and said words to the effect of: “That’s enough, they’re not listening, they need to put their stuff away”.

When the neighbor asked what he was doing with the knife, Brown replied: “I’m going to kill them.”

When emergency services arrived, Mr Brathwaite was found lying in the doorway of a house, covered in blood from a stab wound to his chest that had penetrated his heart. He died at the scene.

Ms Brathwaite suffered a laceration to her upper lip and a cut to the left of her forehead.

Following the events, Brown went to Lloyd’s bank on Thursday, which is said to be a normal part of his routine.

He was arrested outside Wembley police station just after noon.

Brown’s wife later told police that Brown had been acting “strangely” for some time and was constantly trying to steal Mr Brathwaite’s house.

The elderly defendant had previously pleaded guilty to culpable homicide of Mr Brathwaite, unlawful wounding of Ms Brathwaite and possession of a knife or pointed object.

Mr Christopher told the court his manslaughter plea was accepted on the grounds that his “ability to make a rational decision and exercise self-control was substantially impaired by the dementia and delusions of persecution he was suffering from at the time”.

Nina Grahame KC, mitigating, referred to the “robust” diagnosis of dementia given by medical professionals.

He added: “This diagnosed dementia is the only explanation for how this elderly man, of previously good character and with no history of aggression or violence, could have carried out these acts.”

The barrister said there was a background of “complaints” between the two neighbors over a shared alley that “developed as a result of Mr Brown’s deteriorating mental health”.

Ms Grahame KC added that the “tragedy” of this case was that no diagnosis of dementia was made until the court hearings.

Referring to his thirty-five-year career at TfL, he added: “He is fundamentally not an angry or aggressive man. He is a hard-working and loving husband and friend all his life.”

Sentencing him, Judge Anupama Thompson said she would impose an extended sentence to protect the public after hearing that Brown’s delusional beliefs persist to this day.

He said of the victim: “It is clear that Mr Brathwaite was a kind, generous, hard-working man and devoted to his family.

“His family is struggling to understand his loss, a loss made worse by the fact that he was murdered in front of his home for so many years.”