Man stabbed new dad to death just DAYS after being let off for brandishing knives
Victim Jeroen Ensink was posting cards telling friends and family about the birth of his daughter at the time of the attack
A PROUD new dad set out to post baby cards and was butchered by a mentally-ill stranger — let off days earlier by Crown Prosecutors for brandishing two knives.
Frenzied killer Femi Nandap, 23 — who also had charges of assaulting a cop dropped — walked up to the startled academic and repeatedly plunged an eight-inch blade into him.
Mr Ensink , 41, a senior lecturer in public health engineering at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, was described by colleagues as a "natural educator".
He was knifed just days after he and wife Nadja became parents for the first time.
Dutch-born Dr Ensink’s widow Nadja, 37, a yoga teacher, said last night amid outrage the killer was allowed to roam free: “Today is really not a good day for me.”
Baby Fleur was ten days old when first-time dad Dr Ensink died in Islington, North London, last December.
Five days earlier the CPS had dropped all charges against Nandap after he was caught with two knives the same day he assaulted the cop.
At an earlier hearing following the killing Judge Charles Wide QC demanded to know why.
Bail was not even revoked by JPs when Nandap failed to turn up over the previous charges. He had swanned off on a trip back to Nigeria, the Old Bailey heard.
The fiasco was called “deeply distressing” by charity Hundredfamilies, set up to help relatives of the estimated 100 people a year killed by people suffering from mental illness.
The CPS said the previous charges against Nandap were dropped because of “insufficient evidence”.
Nandap admitted killing Mr Ensink, while appearing at the Old Bailey via video link from Broadmoor.
Wearing a black hooded jumper and thick-rimmed black glasses, and with short black hair, Nandap spoke only to confirm his name and to enter his plea.
The court heard he had a history of mental illness.
Duncan Atkinson QC, prosecuting, said the decision to accept the plea had been taken "both in the light of that very clear and unanimous psychiatric opinion that there was abnormality of mental functioning at the time, and that did diminish responsibility."
Mr Atkinson added that "given his previous history and the facts of the offence itself", that it would not be in the public interest to pursue the murder charge.
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Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Piscopo, of the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command, said: "Dr Jeroen Ensink left his home that lunchtime to post a number of cards to friends and family to inform them of the recent birth of his daughter.
"What should have been the happiest time of Jeroen's life was ended by the violent and unprovoked actions of Nandap.
"Jeroen had only walked a short distance when he was approached by Nandap, who launched into a vicious attack with a knife. He did not stand a chance, and now, sadly, his daughter will grow up without her father in her life."
Witnesses described seeing a knifeman minutes after the attack.
Members of the public and the police were said to have chased him along a road before he was tasered and arrested.
Shocked colleagues of Mr Ensink have described him as a "natural educator" who was "immensely popular" with his students.
Professor Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of Jeroen Ensink.
"Jeroen was passionately committed to a simple cause: improving access to water and sanitation in countries where children continue to die needlessly due to the lack of these basic services.
"He joined the School nearly 10 years ago, and his career as a researcher and educator crossed many continents, living and working in Pakistan, India, Vietnam, Tanzania, Malawi, and collaborating with numerous universities and international agencies.
"At the time of his death, Jeroen was leading a large study in the Democratic Republic of Congo to understand how improvements in water supply could control and prevent cholera outbreaks.
"He was a natural educator and immensely popular with students in whom he invested much time and energy; he provided support and inspiration in equal measure and many of his students are now successful researchers and public health professionals in their own right.
"Jeroen will be greatly missed by all the staff and students who had the opportunity to know and work with him, and the legacy of his work will continue in Asia and Africa.
"Our deepest condolences go to his family and friends."
Nandap is due to be sentenced at the the Old Bailey on October 10.
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