Joshua Jacques, 29, stabbed to death Samantha Drummonds and her family in their home in Bermondsey, south London,
A cannabis abuser who claimed he stabbed his girlfriend and three of her family members as a “sacrifice” has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 46 years for their murders.
Joshua Jacques, 29, was fuelled by drugs and alcohol when he attacked Samantha Drummonds and her family with a knife in their home in Delaford Road, Bermondsey, south London, early on April 25 2022, the Old Bailey heard.
Police found the bodies of Ms Drummonds, 27, her mother Tanysha Ofori-Akuffo, 45, grandmother Dolet Hill, 64, and Ms Hill’s partner, Denton Burke, 58, after being alerted to a disturbance by a neighbour.
Officers found Mr Burke’s body at the foot of the stairs and the three women “heaped together” in the kitchen.
Armed officers discovered Jacques naked and lying in the upstairs bathroom in a praying position, screaming “Allah, take me!”, “Kill me now”, “Get rid of me”, and “God please forgive me”.
Later, at Lewisham Hospital, Jacques said: “I ain’t even in the wrong, I did them for sacrifice”, and also warned: “I will do something stupid again.”
He admitted manslaughter but denied murder on the basis that he was mentally unwell at the time.
An Old Bailey jury deliberated for two hours to find Jacques, from Minard Road, Lewisham, south-east London, guilty of four counts of murder.
