The brother of a British champion fighter has admitted stabbing his sibling to death as he celebrated his 30th birthday.
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter Jahreau Shepherd, nicknamed The Nightmare, was hacked to death by 19-year-old Dwight Freeman as he partied with friends in Kennington, South London, last summer.
Freeman, who was Mr Shepherd's half-brother, fled to Newquay in Cornwall where he was spotted five days later following the July 11, 2020, knifing.
Last month, Freeman, from Vauxhall in south London, pleaded guilty to Mr Shepherd's manslaughter by diminished responsibility, and to wounding 26-year-old Joel Belgrave with intent.
Friends and family filled the courtroom at the Old Bailey as prosecutor Caroline Carberry QC outlined the facts of the case during Monday's court hearing.
She told the court that Mr Shepherd was an "accomplished" MMA fighter who lived with his mother and half-brother, who was known as DJ.
Mr Shepherd acted like a father figure to his younger sibling because he wanted him to "fix up and be better" and stop smoking "skunk" cannabis, the court was told.
In the six months before the killing, the defendant suffered mood swings and had "terrified" his mother when she woke up to find him staring at her at the foot of the bed.
On the evening of July 11, Mr Shepherd held a birthday party and barbecue in a park, having told around 60 guests the dress code was to wear white.
At around 10pm, numerous friends looked on as Freeman, in black and with his hood up, carried out a "terrifying, sustained and unprovoked attack with a large knife or knives", Ms Carberry said.
The weapons were variously described by witnesses as a machete, a Samurai swords, and a Zombie knife.
One witness heard Mr Shepherd appear to scold the defendant who then hit him several times with a machete.
Mr Shepherd was heard to say: "I love you. What are you doing?"
He held his hands up as he appealed to his brother, saying: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Don't do this," the court was told.
Mr Shepherd suffered 13 wounds including to his back, shoulder, thigh, face and stomach, with the two fatal injuries being around 19cm deep.
The court heard that psychiatrists had diagnosed Freeman with paranoid schizophrenia since he had been in custody.
Giving evidence, Dr Emmanuel Okoro said: "In my opinion, having interviewed the defendant on several occasions and carefully reviewed his records while in custody and during his treatment at Broadmoor (hospital) and having extensively interviewed his mother, I am completely convinced he does suffer from severe mental illness, namely paranoid schizophrenia.
He continued: "That played a significant part in the offences as listed and therefore requires treatment in hospital."
Judge Richard Marks QC is expected to sentence Freeman at a later date.
