Murder accused 'said he killed his cellmate'

A man accused of murdering his cellmate told the victim "I'm worried I'm going to strangle you", a court heard.

Neil Ashby, 49, who was found dead at HMP Stoke Heath, said he was worried about Jonathan Alcide's mental health in the weeks before being allegedly strangled to death by him on 30 June or 1 July 2025, Stafford Crown Court heard.

A prison officer described Alcide, 36, who denied murder, as "eerily nonchalant" after he alerted staff Ashby was dead by ringing a buzzer and saying "I've killed my padmate".

Alcide accepted he killed Ashby by neck compression, but asserted he was not guilty by reason of insanity and was guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility, prosecutors said.

But it was the Crown's case it was a "cold-blooded, deliberate murder", prosecution counsel Sally Howes KC said.

Alcide had asked the prison doctor a week before the killing to certify him as sick for employment due to "severe post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia" and told a forensic psychologist after his arrest he was an "angel turned into demon".

The court heard prisoners described Ashby as a "nice lad" who had declined multiple cell moves despite raising concerns.

Howes said it "appears that Mr Ashby was happy to stay where he was in order to look after the defendant, provided the defendant had been offered a mental health appointment".

Ashby, who would collect and bring Alcide meals after he stopped leaving his room, told inmates Alcide had started to read the Koran, was becoming scared of God and was having suicidal thoughts.

On 30 June last year, Ashby told another prisoner Alcide had said: "I'm worried I'm going to strangle you, Neil."

Ashby's body was found on his bottom bunk bed after Alcide, who had superficial cuts to his wrist and blood on his white shirt, summoned a prison officer to their cell early on 1 July.

There were words daubed on the cell wall in pen and blood, including "I did not slay them" and "they killed us… help".

The prison officer called for backup and upon entering the cell another prison officer said Alcide was "really cool and calm" and, when asked what he had done, said: "I'm sorry boss, I've killed him."

Alcide had been examined by consultant forensic psychiatrists, the prosecution said.

One of the defence experts said Alcide may have been suffering a severe depressive episode with psychosis, while another said he may have a delusional disorder, ongoing mental and behavioural disorders due to previous dependence on cannabis and paranoid delusions.

The Crown's expert said if the jury accepted what the defendant said about his state of mind, then he was experiencing psychosis at the time in the form of paranoid delusions, but it was up to the jury as to whether they accepted that.

The trial continues.

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