Kensington And Chelsea (Parliament Politics Magazine) – A wealthy art collector’s son stabbed his live-in housekeeper at the family’s Kensington and Chelsea borough mansion, calling her “evil” during the attack.
Maximillian Bourne was accused of trying to kill Joselia Pereira Do Nascimento on February 25 of last year at the opulent home in Chelsea’s Justice Walk.
According to the court, the 26-year-old allegedly contacted 999 later and told the operator that he was a “nice boy from Chelsea” and that he had stabbed a “demon woman.”
A jury will determine if Bourne committed the claimed deed, not whether he is guilty or not, as he was judged mentally unable to stand trial.
In the three months prior to the incident, Bourne and Ms. Nascimento were the sole occupants of the house while Bourne’s mother was away, according to testimony given to jurors at Southwark Crown Court on Monday.
Ms. Nascimento said in a statement delivered by the prosecutor that on the evening of February 25 of last year, Bourne knocked on her door and asked her to come outside.
She alleged,
“He started to attack me with a knife and he didn’t say anything.
He was holding me by the blouse and he started stabbing my blouse. I was bleeding so much that I was using the blouse to stop the bleeding.
When he was stabbing me he eventually let go of the knife and started to strangle me around the neck with both hands.”
As she told one of her friends that she was dying, Ms. Nascimento explained how she was able to escape and lock herself in a bathroom before getting her phone and calling for assistance.
According to the court, she attempted to breathe quietly so Bourne would believe she had passed away.
“He then said: ‘Open the door’, which he repeated and was knocking,” Ms Nascimento continued.
I could feel my blood going down my body. I was losing blood.”
Describing the alleged stabbing, she said:
“I told him I have a daughter and I pleaded with him to stop.
He told me that it was because I was evil, but we had never had an argument or a disagreement.”
She told the court that he had been acting strangely in the days before the incident, including sleeping on the bathroom floor and mumbling to himself.
Jurors heard Bourne made a 999 call after the event, giving his name and telling the operator: “There is this demon woman in my house and I stabbed her.
I’m a nice boy from Chelsea. You’re just going to have to please not bring a gun. I do have blood all over me.”
Prior to the prosecution’s opening statement, Judge Gregory Perrins informed the jury that Bourne is “mentally very unwell” and therefore unfit to stand trial.
“He will not be present during the course of this trial,” he said.
There cannot be a trial in the usual way that you would normally understand and you will not be asked to return verdicts of guilty or not guilty as you would in a normal criminal trial.
What you are required to do in this trial is consider whether the defendant did the act charged against him.”
The trial continues.
What was the community reaction involving this incident?
Given the upscale neighborhood and the suddenness of such a brutal assault, Kensington snd Chelsea residents voiced shock and disbelief at the incident’s ferocity.
The incident raised concerns about community safety, particularly among residents who live in large families with staff and domestic helpers.
The case has drawn a lot of media coverage, which frequently draws attention to the disparity between the Bourne family’s riches and prestige and the seriousness of the alleged crime. The public’s perspective and responses in Chelsea and elsewhere may be impacted by this coverage.
The reference to Bourne’s mental health problems and his conviction that the maid was a “demon” sparked conversations on community support and understanding of mental health.
The police presence and the incident’s unusualness for the neighborhood, which is regarded as safe and affluent, have been highlighted by the neighbors.