Woman given hospital order after hate crime stabbing

A woman who stabbed a "beloved" community member to death in what police called a race-hate crime has been sentenced to a hospital order.

Hubert 'Isaac' Brown, 61, of Easton, Bristol, died after being attacked in Grosvenor Road at about 15:20 BST on 29 September 2023.

Christina Howell, 37, also of Easton, admitted manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility after originally entering a not guilty plea in November 2024.

On Friday, Howell was sentenced to a hospital order at Bristol Crown Court and was given a criminal behaviour order which bans her from entering the "county and city" of Bristol indefinitely.

Howell was arrested at the scene in the St Paul's area of the city and first appeared in court charged with murder on 2 October 2023.

Since then she has been detained in a high-security hospital where psychiatric reports on her fitness to stand trial were carried out.

At the time of his death, Mr Brown's family paid tribute to him as a "kind-hearted, harmless individual".

"Accepting that he is no longer with us is incredibly challenging," they said.

"Hubert was a beloved member of our community, and we want to express our heartfelt gratitude to those who went above and beyond to help him during that time."

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