Man, 20, pleads guilty to killing his father

A man has pleaded guilty to killing his father in an attack which also left a woman and an 11-year-old boy injured.

Fabio Botros was 19 when he was charged with the murder of 57-year-old Emad Samir Botros Farag and the attempted murder of the woman and the boy in April 2025.

At Lewes Crown Court on Thursday, Botros pleaded guilty to manslaughter and causing grievous bodily harm to the two other victims.

Botros, now 20, was handed an indefinite hospital order.

The court heard that Botros was obsessed with horror movies and owned a collection of Chucky dolls.

A court heard that his mental condition "deteriorated to the worst they had ever known" after he was misdiagnosed with autism and depression.

Ryan Ritcher, for the Crown, said Botros was waiting at home for an airport taxi prior to a holiday in Egypt when he argued with his father over baggage allowance.

Richter said that screams were heard coming from the kitchen at a house in Brighton, where Botros was seen with one hand round his father's neck and a bloody hammer in the other.

"He had been beaten over the head," Ritcher said.

"Botros then opened a drawer and took out a large kitchen knife before stabbing the woman in the face.

"The boy was also hit on the head with the hammer."

Despite his history of mental illness, Botros was remanded to prison.

The court heard that Botros had been treated as an inpatient in psychiatric hospitals at least twice before.

The court heard that in January 2024, a social worker said Botros "looked vacant and asked her to help him end his life".

Botros was detained in Eastbourne psychiatric hospital and prescribed anti-psychotic medication before he was discharged, the court were told.

His family noted "significant improvement" in Botros by May 2024 as he continued to take medication.

In the autumn of 2024, his treatment team switched Botros to antidepressants.

Her Honour Judge Christine Laing KC said: "It is a cruel aspect of this case that the anti-psychotic medication was substantially reduced as those treating him thought his difficulties might be due to autism and depression."

She added that the decision "ultimately led to the killing of his father".

In the weeks before, his family said he "withdrew from contact, stopped going to college, was speaking to himself and acting on hallucinations".

Days before he was killed, Botros' father asked for an urgent assessment., the court was told.

He was seen on 18 March and 20 March, but no further action was taken.

Dr Michael Kavuma confirmed Botros' diagnosis of a paranoid schizophrenia.

Det Ch Insp Mark Cullimore said: "This was a shocking and tragic incident, and our thoughts are with those affected and their loved ones.

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