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A paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed a refugee and cut off his penis hours after being released from hospital against the advice of psychiatrists has been convicted of murder.

Jeffrey Barry, 56, attacked his neighbour Kamil Ahmad, 49, at his flat on Wells Road in Bristol at about 2am on July 6 last year.

Barry held a long-standing grudge against Iraqi-born Kurd Mr Ahmad and had called police weeks before, claiming he was a rapist, a paedophile and a terrorist in Iraq, Bristol Crown Court heard.

He murdered Mr Ahmad in a "savage and sustained" knife attack hours after being released from a psychiatric hospital near seaside town Weston-super-Mare.

The court heard that psychiatrists had opposed Barry's release, but a mental health tribunal ruled that he should be discharged.

Barry, who is being held in Broadmoor Hospital, denied murdering Mr Ahmad and instead admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

But a jury unanimously convicted him of murder after two hours of deliberations at the end of the two-week trial.

Barry, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was racist towards Mr Ahmed and had previously assaulted him, the court heard.

In a phone call to police weeks before the killing, Barry claimed Mr Ahmed was a rapist, a paedophile and a terrorist in Iraq.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Ahmed had been repeatedly stabbed, including 25 times to his face and eyes, during Barry's attack and his penis cut off after death.

Barry, of Wells Road, Bristol, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Barry had been discharged from the Cygnet Hospital Kewstoke less than 12 hours before he killed Mr Ahmed.

He was sectioned and brought to psychiatric intensive care unit Hazel Ward at Callington Road in Bristol on June 13.

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A week later, he was transferred to the open ward Cygnet Hospital after telling staff his behaviour was due to excessive cannabis and alcohol.

His case was reviewed by a mental health tribunal, who released him with medication after he promised not to drink or take drugs.