A delivery driver has been jailed for life for stabbing a French tourist to death in an unprovoked and random attack.
Nicholas Foy, 39, had snorted 4.5grams of cocaine in a 24-hour drink and drugs session before running up to Laurent Volpe, 49, who was on his way to visit family.
Foy, wearing only a pair of pink shorts, plunged a large kitchen knife into Mr. Folpe’s stomach, passing through his liver. He then turned on witnesses shouting “Do you want some?” following the senseless and motiveless attack in Eltham, south east London last August.
Prosecutor Susanne Alavi said: “Laurent Volpe was on his way to see his family and happened to walk past Foy who indiscriminately selected him as his victim.
“During his trial, Foy blamed his behaviour on the sheer amount of drink and drugs he had consumed. However, he conceded that when he combined these substances, he could not control his violent and aggressive temper.
“Yet he chose to take this dangerous cocktail before stabbing Mr. Volpe to death.
“This was a callous and, in the event, unsuccessful way of seeking to absolve himself of responsibility.
“I would like to thank the many witnesses, including Mr. Volpe’s family, who came forward and gave evidence in court.
“I hope this sentence provides some comfort for them and Mr. Volpe’s friends. Our thoughts are with them.”
Mr Volpe, who was on a two-week holiday with his wife Cecile Chapais and their two children, collapsed at the scene in Eltham, south east London shortly before 7pm on August 11 last year.
Mr Volpe, an accomplished triathlete from the south of France, had spent the day sightseeing with his family.
They returned to Eltham, where they were staying through a house swap and Mr. Volpe popped to a nearby Co-op to get food. But on his way back, he bumped into dad of three, Foy.
When police arrived, Foy punched an officer before he was Tasered and arrested. And as he was taken to hospital for treatment to self-inflicted knife wounds to his foot, he headbutted another officer and had to be sedated by medical staff.
Paramedics took Mr. Volpe to Kings College Hospital in a critical condition but died three days later despite having a liver transplant.
Foy admitted manslaughter, claiming a lack of intent, but denied murder. He was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey on Monday, and jailed for life with a minimum of 17 years.
In the days before the attack Foy, who suffers depression, had not taken his medication, and chose to self-medicate with cocaine and alcohol instead, the judge said.
He had drunk five pints of lager, a litre of Jack Daniels whiskey and rum, and taken up to four-and-a-half grams of cocaine before leaving the house at 6.45pm.
Judge Sarah Munro QC said: “You took with you a large kitchen knife, going back and forward across the road to gouge your foot, believing there was a bomb.
“You had spent the previous evening, night and morning of the 11th of August filling yourself with alcohol and cocaine.
“You took all that, knowing the combination could make you angry, paranoid, aggressive and violent.
“You have a longstanding history of drink and drug abuse. You started taking cocaine aged 17, and took the drug daily until 2013.
“You also told the jury you have had a problem with alcohol for two years. Your records suggest it was a lot longer.”
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