“We owe it to Jacob” says mum of young man killed in stabbing spree

The 23-year-old was randomly stabbed in the street while on a night out for his friend’s birthday

The mum of an aspiring musician who was “always happy” paid tribute to her son four years on from his death. Jacob Billington, 23, died after Zephaniah McLeod went on a stabbing spree in central Birmingham attacking eight victims at random.

University worker and musician Jacob was wounded in the neck and shoulder as he walked to a hotel following a night out to celebrate a friend’s birthday. McLeod also stabbed Jacob’s close friend and bandmate, Michael Callaghan, in the neck causing life-changing injuries.

Michael, then 23, was partially paralysed and suffered a stroke following the attack in the early hours of September 6, 2020. He has since relearned to walk but still suffers with debilitating injuries.

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In 2021 McLeod, who has paranoid schizophrenia, admitted Jacob’s manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, four counts of attempted murder and three counts of wounding. He was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court.

Four years on from the terrifying attack that took Jacob’s life, his heartbroken mum, Jo Billington, told the ECHO how her son was just beginning his career after securing a graduate job at Sheffield Hallam University. She said: “He was amazing. We were blessed with him.

“Jacob was no trouble at all. He went to school, did his A-Levels, went to university, he was just great. He had plenty of friends, worked hard. He had a job and was just starting out in his career when he was killed. I was really proud of him. I can say we did a really good job [raising him].

“He was a lovely person and just a really happy presence. He was so fun and always happy. And he was a very talented musician. He could pick up any instrument and be able to play it. He was just doing his proper job till he could become a rock god.”

Earlier this year, three-and-a-half years on from his death, a coroner ruled McLeaod was released from prison “without any support in place for his serious mental illness” as she highlighted “lost opportunities” to effectively manage his condition. The two-week inquest into the death of Jacob heard that McLeod, who had a long history of offending, had been known to mental health services since he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2012, but did not regularly engage with them or take his prescribed medication inside or outside of prison.

The court heard McLeod had long reported hearing voices telling him to kill or stab people and saw shadows, but did not regularly take the anti-psychotic drugs he was prescribed, believing his medication to be homing devices used by the government to monitor him. He refused to speak to psychiatrists in prison or engage with mental health services.

Despite being deemed a high risk of serious harm to other people, McLeod was released from HMP Parc in South Wales on April 22 2020 after a three-year prison sentence for drug and firearm offences, five months before he killed Jacob, without any support in place for his mental health. He was released back to Birmingham with no fixed address.

Jo, who works full time as a teacher, said: “I think, for us, it has been so prolonged. It was 14 months after Jacob was killed for him to be sentenced. We didn’t have a trial it was just sentencing. We then waited two years for the serious case review which wasn’t strong enough. The coroner reopened the review and that’s why we had the inquest. There were many failings and it’s been a long road but we owe it to Jacob, Michael and the other six people who were stabbed in the attack.”

Following the inquest earlier this year, a prevention of future death report was published by senior coroner for Birmingham and Solihull Louise Hunt which was sent to Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust for MHIT, Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust the MHIT, Forward Thinking Birmingham and Jacob’s family. Four key areas were of concern in the report were management of release and lack of interagency working, SystmOne, which provides a single electorinic health record for every patient, cross agency guidance regarding the release of high risk prisoners with mental health difficulties at their sentence end date, and West Midlands multi-agency public protection arrangements.

Since his death, a charity has been set up to help young people with the cost of learning to play an instrument. The Jacob Billington Trust was formed in 2022, two years after Jacob’s death, by five of his friends and his younger sister Abbie and works to raise money for people living in Sefton who are looking to pursue a musical education. Its mission statement said the trust’s desire to ensure “every young person has the chance to pursue their creative arts passion, regardless of their background or socio-economic status”.

For more information about the Jacob Billington Trust, click here.