THE prime suspect in the Birmingham knife rampage was released from jail just five months ago, The Sun can reveal. Zephaniah McLeod, 27, had been jailed for three years in 2017 but was released at the halfway point of his sentence. After his recall, McLeod served the entirety of his jail term before being released back […]
THE prime suspect in the Birmingham knife rampage was released from jail just five months ago, The Sun can reveal.
Zephaniah McLeod, 27, had been jailed for three years in 2017 but was released at the halfway point of his sentence.
After his recall, McLeod served the entirety of his jail term before being released back into the community in April.
He is believed to have first lived in a halfway house in Dudley, West Mids, before moving into a three-bed house in Selly Oak, Birmingham.
McLeod did not need to be subjected to probation controls because he had already served his full prison term.
But today it emerged he suffers from “serious” mental health problems – sparking major questions over how he was monitored in the community by over-stretched local health teams.
A source said: “His mental health and his monitoring will be a key
feature of any future enquiry.”
McLeod was arrested in a dramatic dawn raid yesterday – around 24 hours after he allegedly unleashed into a knife attack in Birmingham city centre.
Jacob Billington, 23, was stabbed to death while visiting a school friend with pals from his home in Liverpool.
His friend Michael Callaghan, also 23, was knifed in the neck and is in a critical condition after surgery.
A man and a woman, 30 and 22, are also fighting for life in hospital after suffering serious stab wounds in the frenzy.
Four others, three men and a woman, were also injured.
Three people arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender were released pending further investigation.
Questions are now being asked over why the knifeman wasn’t stopped during the 90-minute spree in the early hours of Sunday morning.
Khalid Mahmood, Labour MP for Perry Barr, said: “We’ve got to look at the fact he had two hours to run around the city centre, which has a huge amount of CCTV cameras in place.
“Where was the monitoring? Both the public and police were put at further risk. There is a person dead. How was this man able to go on a two-hour spate?
“Potentially, had the alarm been set up early enough, the individual who is now deceased could have been saved and it’s important we look at that.”
But police have defended the hunt for the suspect – despite the West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner revealing a probe will be launched.
