Voodoo worshipper who stabbed his fiance multiple times in the head is jailed for 12 years
A voodoo worshipper who stabbed his fiance multiple times in her head and neck has been jailed for 12 years.
Andrew Hunye, 33, almost killed Tessie Adeyemi when he attacked her with a kitchen knife claiming he was "under a spell" after he had been smoking cannibis at the couple's home in Chadwell Heath, east London.
Wood Green Crown Court heard the victim found Hunye lying naked on the kitchen floor "speaking in tongues".
Hunye stood up, pointed at the ceiling, then gestured at her and said "I am God and you are the devil" before grabbing a knife from another room and stabbing her three times in the neck and the back of the head.
After the attack, he ran onto the landing of the apartment building and carried out a dance of celebration.
Ms Adeyemi managed to escape from the flat and was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
The pair are both religious and believe that the knife attack was caused by a voodoo spell.
Ms Adeyemi continued to remain supportive of Hunye throughout his trial and told the court they had a good relationship.
She suffers from facial paralysis since the attack.
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Hunye said: ‘I was not in a right state of mind, I had lost my mind, I was hearing voices,’ although psychiatrists told the court Hunye was not suffering from mental illness.
Judge David Aaronberg told him: "You and Ms Adeyemi have strong religious beliefs.
"You are both devoted Christians, you also both have traditional Nigerian beliefs regarding Voodoo or Juju."
"English law does not recognise the concept of possession by an evil spirit", he said.
He said that instead the attack resulted from "a combination of the beliefs and the consumption of skunk cannabis".
He added: "If the defendant believed in it it might have impacted how he acted that day."
Hunye was convicted of attempted murder and jailed for 12-and-a-half years.
