An Upper Norwood grandmother who tried to cut off her two-year-old granddaughter's head was jailed for three years at the Old Bailey.

Victoria Andoh, 67, brutally killed little Lorna Halm on May 12 last year while she lay in bed in her pyjamas.

The little girl had been stabbed more than 14 times in the neck and chest with two kitchen knives.

Her distraught father Benedict discovered the body when he returned home from work.

Prosecutor Sally O'Neill, QC, said: "The distribution and nature of the injuries suggest an attempt at decapitation."

Andoh, of Downview Road, admitted the manslaughter of Lorna on grounds of diminished responsibility. She had been mentally ill for years before the killing in Wembley.

Andoh had become deeply attached to the child after looking after her at her home in Ghana.

But she became upset when Lorna was brought back to England in February 2000 and decided to join the family six months later, when rows over the care of the child ensued.

Following the attack Andoh lay on the track at North Wembley Station, where a train passed over her.

After being rescued by emergency services she was heard to say: "Cut, cut, cut."

Sentence was given on Friday, July 5.

July 17, 2002 12:30