Kerrie Gray was caught up in the Paddington rail crash

Kerrie Gray, 42, from Byron Gardens, Tilbury, stabbed a drunken pedestrian to death in an attack brought on by post-traumatic stress, a court heard.

Gray, 42, a council administrator from Byron Gardens, Tilbury, admitted killing welder Fred Boultwood, also 42, with a kitchen knife after a row on 19 August 2001.

Prosecution and defence experts agreed at an earlier hearing that his mental state was substantially impaired at the time.

Guilty of manslaughter

The court accepted his guilty plea to a charge of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

On Monday, Gray was sentenced under the Mental Health Act to be detained in hospital until the Home Secretary grants a release.

Mrs Justice Rafferty told him at Wood Green Crown Court: "With several stab wounds you wrecked the life of a family.

"I accept that your involvement with the Paddington rail crash in 1999 meant that you endured a mental illness."

Gray's attack took place after Mr Boultwood, from Tilbury, staggered into the path of his car, causing him to brake.

'Changed by crash'

When the drunken Mr Boultwood hammered on the window, Gray leaped out and punched and kicked him.

Then he drove to a friend's house for a kitchen knife and stabbed Mr Boultwood seven times.

Prosecutor Miss Patricia Lynch, QC, said Gray's attack may have been triggered by his girlfriend telling him, earlier that day, that their relationship was over.

Or it may have been caused by Mr Boultwood banging on his car window bringing back memories of being thrown through a train window in the Paddington rail crash, the court heard.

His personality had changed and he suffered from constant depression and bouts of anger since the crash.

David Nathan, mitigating, said: "Doctors and family all witnessed the way he gradually changed in the aftermath of that terrible disaster.

"He simply went to pieces after the crash with post traumatic stress disorder."