Man guilty of killing lawyer at Tube station

A man who pushed a leading human rights lawyer in front of a Tube train was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter at the Old Bailey yesterday.

David Burgess, 63, a cross-dresser known as Sonia, died during the rush hour at King's Cross station in October last year.

Senthooran Kanagasingham had denied murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The 35-year-old from Cricklewood, north London, was jailed for a minimum of seven years. Doctors said he no longer required hospital treatment for paranoid schizophrenia.

The victim had befriended the killer and had introduced him to his GP as he was worried about his mental state. Kanagasingham was undergoing sex-change treatment.

Brian Altman QC, prosecuting, said commuters had seen Kanagasingham push Mr Burgess. A note found in his rucksack said he was "depressed". He added Mr Burgess, a divorced father of three children, had built "an enviable and brilliant reputation" as a solicitor.