A VIOLENT psychopath who attacked a fellow university student was left free to kill a young father four months after his sentence, a court has heard.
Colin Welsh, 42, beat his first victim so badly he needed facial reconstruction surgery, the Old Bailey was told.
But despite a history of violence, drug-taking and mental illness, he was simply fined and sent down from St Andrews University befo
re going back to London.
Welsh then stabbed cabinetmaker Elliot Guy, 27, in the neck, severing his jugular vein, at a party in July 2008.
Mr Guy, whose relatives wept as details of the case were outlined in court, had become a father only 12 weeks before. His partner, Amy Smith, described him in a victim impact statement as a "wonderful, warm, gentle and paternal man" who doted on daughter Eleanor.
Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting, said others described him as "polite and thoroughly decent".
The court heard that Welsh, who studied philosophy at St Andrews from September 2005, appeared to be "a normal person who is educated and articulate".
But he was a schizophrenic who heard voices he believed were coming from a transmitting device placed in his ear.
Mr Laidlaw said: "The appalling tragedy of this case is that an entirely innocent man, for no rational reason, appears to have attracted the attention of a defen-dant who was both violent and in the throes of a mental illness."
Welsh, of Tottenham, north London, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to manslaughter by diminished responsibility. Judge Brian Barker adjourned sentencing until today to decide whether to give him a life term or order him to be locked up in a psychiatric hospital.
The court heard that, while at St Andrews, Welsh's behaviour was "erratic and at times dangerous". Students who shared accommodation witnessed "extreme losses of temper and very frightening and intimidating behaviour", Mr Laidlaw said.
Welsh also threatened members of staff and at one point said he would "slice up" a doorman.
He attacked a fellow student in October 2006, fracturing his cheekbone and leaving him needing reconstructive surgery.
When he was sentenced at Cupar Sheriff Court in March 2008, Welsh already had dozens of convictions dating back to the age of 15, including for actual bodily harm, wounding, burglary, crack and cocaine possession and possessing knives.
He was fined £200 and ordered to pay £300 compensation. He was sent down by the university authorities the following month.
Mr Laidlaw said Welsh had, in the past, been unwilling to accept his mental health diagnosis and anti-psychotic drug treatment.
He said in the opinion of one friend "other people would not realise that the defendant suffers from mental illness" and that "to people he meets he just appears as a normal person who is educated and articulate".
Paul Williams, who had known the killer since childhood told how in November 2007, Welsh arrived at his home and accused him of implanting the bug he believed was in his ear, before stabbing him in the chest, puncturing his lung. Mr Williams was too frightened to tell police his attacker's name.
A third acquaintance said: "Colin's the sort of person that you have to think before you speak to, to make sure he doesn't flip."
Psychiatrists later assessed that Welsh could react "explosively" and become "intensely angry" at "real or imagined slights".
Mr Guy, in stark contrast, was a "much-loved son and brother" who had been with his girlfriend for six years before his death, and was "a highly intelligent and artistic character".
Welsh, who did not know his victim, wrongly claimed he had been causing trouble. He broke into the bathroom as Mr Guy was washing his hands and stabbed him in an "entirely unprovoked" attack.
Mr Guy suffered a "gaping wound" on his neck and died in hospital of massive blood loss. Welsh left the scene, but handed himself into police ten days later.
