A MAN is facing being detained in a mental health facility after he was found to have stabbed a man to death and hit him in the head with an axe.

A jury took about an hour to decide that 36-year-old David Gray unlawfully killed Carl Scott following a five-day trial at Winchester Crown Court.

Carl Scott’s body was discovered in March last year – around a month after it is thought he died – where it is alleged he was attacked by Gray.

But Gray, who did not appear at Winchester Crown Court throughout proceedings, was not being tried for murder after he was deemed not fit to enter a plea last Tuesday.

Instead, a jury was tasked by judge Jane Miller QC with deciding whether Gray “unlawfully killed” Mr Scott.

Winchester Crown Court heard how Mr Scott was left to die at 2 Birch Court, Thurmond Crescent, Winchester, after being attacked with an ornamental 'tomahawk' axe and stabbed five times in the back.

The jury was told how the 37-year-old was discovered on March 22 by a friend who had grown concerned for his welfare.

Home Office pathologist Dr Basil Purdue told the court on Monday that a cocktail of drugs may have been a factor.

He also said that the injury to the head was caused by a heavy object with a “well-defined edge” and “it would have required severe force".

Prosecutor Kerry Maylin told the court how Gray, 36, of no fixed abode, had spoken with a number of people about the death, including Robert Ediss whom, Ms Maylin said, he had “confessed his responsibility” to.

The court heard that Gray allegedly told Mr Ediss a number of graphic details about the death, including how he had stabbed him, while the pair were smoking crack cocaine together at Mr Ediss’s flat.

Gray, a service user of drug addition and homelessness charity Trinity Winchester, was detained under the Mental Health Act the day before Mr Scott’s body was discovered, following an incident in the grounds of Winchester Cathedral.

After being confronted by officers at Trinity Winchester’s base, the court heard that Gray, who had schizophrenia, fled to Winchester Cathedral, where officers said he held a metal cross above his head.

One of the officers drew a Taser, but he was eventually detained.

Ms Maylin told the jury that before and after the death of Mr Scott, thought to have been on February 12/ 13, Gray had undergone reviews by a mental health team, who found nothing to cause them concern at the time.

However, while detained, the court heard Gray had called police a number of times in which he repeated that he had been taken hostage by Mr Scott.

Gray, who is currently detained at a mental health facility, will face a hospital order when sentenced.