A prisoner who strangled his cellmate and then confessed to prison officers “I’ve killed my padmate” has been found guilty of murder.
The body of Neil Ashby, 49, was found with the words “They killed us” written on his back on his bed in the cell he shared with Jonathan Alcide, 36, at HMP Stoke Heath in Shropshire in July 2025.
Mr Ashby had told other prisoners he had concerns about Alcide’s mental health in the weeks prior to being strangled by him at some point on the evening of 30 June or early hours of 1 July, a trial at Stafford Crown Court was told.
Alcide, who was described by a prison officer as “eerily nonchalant” after he alerted staff that Mr Ashby was dead by ringing the buzzer in their cell at 6.12am on 1 July and saying “I’ve killed my padmate”, denied murder, as he claimed he was not guilty by reason of insanity and was instead guilty of manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Alcide wore a grey prison tracksuit and was flanked by five officers in the dock at Stafford Crown Court on Friday, as he showed no emotion when a jury of eight women and four men returned a verdict of guilty to murder.
One juror cried in the dock and wiped her eyes with a tissue as the foreman returned the unanimous verdict after more than nine hours of deliberation.
Judge Avik Mukherjee told Alcide he would be sentenced on 17 November.
During the trial, prosecution counsel Sally Howes KC told the jury it was a “cold-blooded, deliberate murder which had been contemplated some days in advance of its ultimate execution”.
Alcide had asked the prison doctor a week before the killing to certify him as sick for employment due to “severe post-traumatic stress disorder and paranoia” and told a forensic psychologist after his arrest that he was an “angel turned into demon”, Ms Howes said.
The court heard fellow Stoke Heath prisoners described Mr Ashby as “quiet and decent” and a “nice lad” who had declined multiple cell moves despite raising concerns about Alcide’s mental health.
Mr Ashby, who would collect and bring Alcide meals after he stopped leaving his room, told fellow inmates that Alcide had started to read the Koran, was becoming scared of God and was having suicidal thoughts.
He had complained Alcide was keeping him awake at night and other prisoners noticed the defendant was becoming less sociable and would stay in his cell and not open the curtains.
On 30 June last year, Mr Ashby told another prisoner Alcide had said: “I’m worried I’m going to strangle you, Neil.”
Mr Ashby’s body was discovered on his bottom bunk bed after Alcide, who had superficial cuts to his wrist and blood on his white shirt, summoned a prison officer to their cell early on 1 July.
There were words daubed on the cell wall in pen and blood, including “I did not slay them” and “they killed us… help”.
The prison officer called for back-up after Alcide repeatedly said he had killed Mr Ashby.
Upon entering the cell, another prison officer said Alcide was “really cool and calm” and, when asked what he had done, said: “I’m sorry boss, I’ve killed him.”
Addressing the jurors, Judge Mukherjee thanked them for carrying out their work with dedication.
He said: “I have seen how hard you have concentrated and how seriously you have taken your role. I can see what a toll it has taken on you. You have performed a very important public duty.
“This was an upsetting case and you have heard evidence that you may have found distressing.”
The judge exempted the jury members from jury service for life but told them they were welcome to return to watch Alcide’s sentencing hearing.
A post-mortem examination found Mr Ashby had died due to applied neck pressure, most likely as a result of a neck hold or a “broad, soft ligature”.
Ms Howes said Alcide had been examined by a consultant forensic psychiatrist instructed by the Crown and two other consultant forensic psychiatrists instructed by the defence.
One of the defence experts said Alcide may have been suffering a severe depressive episode with psychosis, while the other said he may have a delusional disorder, ongoing mental and behavioural disorders due to previous dependence on cannabis and paranoid delusions.
The Crown’s expert said it was up to the jury if they accepted what Alcide said about his state of mind and if they did, it was his view he was experiencing psychosis at the time in the form of paranoid delusions.
Speaking to the defendant, who stood in the dock with his hands clasped in front of him, the judge said: “I am going to sentence you on November 17.
“Before then, there will be psychiatrists who will want to speak to you. You are not obliged to speak to them, but they will be writing reports on you.”
He told Alcide it was “not a choice, it is an obligation” that he attends his sentencing hearing, to which the defendant replied: “Yes, I understand.”
