Extensive CCTV enquiries led murder squad detectives to find a man who forced his way into a family home and stabbed 20-year-old Elliot Francique to death in front of his family.
Menelik Campbell, 22 (15.05.01) of Dalston Lane, E8, had previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Francique.
Today, Wednesday, 5 July at the Old Bailey, he was sentenced under section 37 MHA 1983 with a section 41 restriction of indeterminate length.
The court heard how at about 15:20hr Tuesday, 19 April 2022 Mr Francique was at his home in Plaistow with family when the doorbell rang.
On opening a man burst in, wearing all black and a balaclava, shouting “where’s Elliot?”
He pushed past and made his way upstairs where the sounds of a disturbance could be heard, and the man and Elliot were close together.
The man then ran down the stairs and left the house.
Elliot was found to be bleeding profusely, especially from around his neck.
Officers and paramedics attended and did all they could to save Elliot, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
A subsequent post mortem found he had suffered eleven stab wounds and four cutting wounds to his body. The cause of death was as a result of blood loss from all these injuries.
An immediate investigation began by homicide detectives from the Mets Specialist Crime Command.
The person who had carried out the brutal attack had fled the scene, was not known and had tried to conceal his identity by wearing a balaclava.
The man had been recorded shortly after the attack on CCTV and extensive enquiries began to track his route through the streets in order to identify him.
After viewing hours of CCTV, officers were able to track the suspect through the streets and back to a training course in Stratford. The officers obtained a clear facial shot of the suspect that showed him getting on a bus to go back to his home address.
This journey was linked to Campbell, as he paid for it using his phone and this was linked to his own personal account.
Campbell was arrested at his home address on Wednesday, 27 April and a phone was found in his pocket. This was Campbell’s phone and cell site analysis showed that it had been with him when he murdered Elliot.
The phone also showed searches on 26 April 2022 for “crime in Stratford London” and on 27 April 2022 for “lowest possible sentence for murder”.
There were also numerous searches for knives including samurai sword, kukri knife, flick knife and Rambo knife.
On his arrest Campbell did not answer any questions and he was charged with Elliot’s murder on 28 April 2022.
He appeared at court the next day and was remanded in custody.
In prison he was seen by a number of mental health experts, who all agreed that at the time of the killing Campbell was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, and that he was psychotic and hearing voices that commanded him what to do.
As a result on Tuesday, 4 April 2023 Campbell entered his plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and this plea was accepted.
Elliott’s family have said: “Elliot was a much loved Brother and Son and was soon going to become an uncle. For this to happen in the family home, where we lived and loved each other, made our suffering almost unbearable.
“The actions of the person that took Elliot from us has in short devastated each and every member of our family and inflicted pain and suffering that will last for the rest of our lives.”
Detective Chief Inspector Kelly Allen of the Met’s Specialist Crime Command, said: “This has been a horrendous ordeal for Elliot’s family. A man forced his way into the family home, and murdered Elliot in front of them. The home, where the family should come together to grieve, was now a crime scene. It is hard to imagine this family’s pain and anguish and my thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to them all.
“As for Campbell, we may never know why arrived at Elliot’s home armed with a knife and determined to kill. Certainly Elliot was not involved in any activity that might have given Campbell any grounds. Elliot and Campbell had known each other years before, but do not appear to have been involved in any argument or dispute. Campbell appears to have become fixated on Elliot during a psychotic incident and we may never understand why he carried out such a terrible act.
“The lack of any perceivable motive meant this was a difficult investigation. Campbell was apparently a stranger, who had just turned up and carried out a violent killing. This meant we had to work hard to uncover the person responsible and this took hours and hours of detailed inquiries. I want to pay tribute officers and staff involved in this investigation, it was their dedication and hard work that directly led to us finding the person responsible for Elliot’s death.”
