Sacked fast-food worker stabbed boss to death

A fast-food supervisor was stabbed to death at a children's party by a man she had sacked several days earlier for punching a customer, a court was told yesterday.

Shane Freer, 20, returned to the McDonald's restaurant in Chichester, West Sussex, as Jackie Marshall, a 56-year-old grandmother, was supervising the birthday party.

He repeatedly plunged an 8in-long knife into her head and abdomen in "a horrific, frenzied and crazed" attack.

Freer, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome, denied murder but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was jailed for life at Lewes Crown Court, East Sussex.

He was described as "a grave and immediate danger to others" and was told that he would be detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act. The court heard that many of the 30 to 40 customers fled in panic as Mrs Marshall screamed for help but several, including an off-duty Metropolitan Police detective, managed to restrain Freer.

Mrs Marshall, from Southbourne, West Sussex, died in hospital after the attack in April last year. She had worked at the restaurant for 15 years and was soon to celebrate her ruby wedding anniversary.

Among Freer's possessions police found a Christmas card she had sent him, signed with two kisses. Mrs Marshall, a mother of two, was said to be a kind and much respected woman who "always had a smile on her face".

Simon Russell-Flint, QC, prosecuting, said that Freer had carried out "a cold-blooded and merciless killing, entirely motivated by anger and revenge".

He was sacked after punching a girl in the face when she fired a piece of carrot and wet napkin at him from a straw.

Mr Russell-Flint said: "On his dismissal he put his head down and cried. Then he said, 'Maybe I'll get a knife and stab her.' "

He bought a hunting knife for £32.95 and went back to the restaurant "with clear intent and purpose". His face was said to have been contorted with rage as he stabbed Mrs Marshall.

He said later: "She got me fired. She had to die."

Freer, who lived with his parents in Almodington, near Chichester, told doctors that he "quite liked" violence and might "feel it necessary" to kill again.

Anthony Donne, QC, defending, said: "He suffers from a very profound degree of autism in the shape of Asperger's. It means he lives in his own world, unable to cope with everyday things."

The court heard that he had no previous convictions but had once hit a teacher and had taken a knife to school to slash the throat of a girl who had taunted him.celia walden

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