A man who killed an 18 year-old man in Portsmouth and assaulted two others has been convicted of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and actual bodily harm, following a trial at Portsmouth Crown Court.

Police were called to Guildhall Square in Portsmouth at 11:00pm on Saturday 29 July 2023, where Aimen Ahmed was found with stab wounds on the steps of Portsmouth Guildhall.

Police officers and paramedics, along with colleagues from partner agencies in the area attended, but after continued life-saving efforts, Aimen, who was from Horndean, was pronounced dead.

Following an investigation, on Thursday 3 August 2023, 23-year-old Donnell Charles was charged with Murder, Attempted Murder, Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm, Possession of a Bladed Article and failing to disclose a pin code to a phone.

A jury at Portsmouth Crown Court heard that Aimen had been sitting with friends on the Guildhall steps watching a football match on a phone, when the group was approached by Charles, who spoke with them briefly before leaving the area.  

Charles then returned around 10 minutes later, and after a brief verbal exchange, he hit a member of the group with the hilt of a ‘zombie style’ knife before attacking another with the knife causing a minor wound to his neck.

Charles then moved towards Aimen and stabbed him in the abdomen, before making off on an e-scooter.  

On Sunday 30 July, officers were on scene guard when they were made aware of a male matching Charles’s description repeatedly seen near to and at the scene on a scooter. When officers attempted to speak to him, he made off from the scene.

Using body worn footage, officers were able to identify Charles and on Monday 31 July, following further enquiries, he was stopped and arrested on St David’s Road by armed police officers.

Charles, formerly of St Peters Grove in Southsea, pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article and failing to provide personal data, but denied the charges of murder, attempted murder and assault occasioning actual bodily harm and the case went to trial on Monday 28 October 2024.

During the 13-day trial, the court heard from psychiatric experts sharing their opinion as to whether Charles was suffering with psychosis at the time of the killing. 

The court heard that Charles started displaying symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia when he was 18 years-old and had been previously treated for this.

The defence presented evidence that Charles meets the international diagnostic criteria for paranoid schizophrenia, and this diagnosis was reviewed and clinically confirmed by the consultant psychiatrist at Broadmoor Hospital, on the basis of the medical notes available to him and by seeing him in person.

The same doctor gave the opinion that Charles was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning arising from schizophrenia at the time of the incident and that his illness was likely to have substantially impaired his ability to form a rational judgement or exercise self-control.  

The Crown Prosecution Service took these factors into consideration to decide whether he had the defence of diminished responsibility open to him and on Thursday 14 November, Charles entered a plea to manslaughter by diminished responsibility and pleaded guilty to two counts of actual bodily harm, these admissions were accepted by the court.

Charles has been remanded into custody to appear at the same court for sentencing on Tuesday 17 December.

Detective Inspector Elizabeth Brunt, senior investigating officer for the case, said: 

 “We hope that today’s result brings closure, but also some level of comfort to Aimen’s foster family, as they now know that the person responsible for his death has admitted his guilt and been brought to justice.

“My team and I have worked tirelessly for over a year to hold responsible the person who brought about Aimen’s death and we believe the verdict today reflects this.

“I would like to further extend my sincere condolences to Aimen’s family and foster family, who have expressed their clear love and support of Aimen consistently throughout this investigation and trial, and to all those who knew him, for their loss.”