He faces life in prison for the murder of an unnamed 49-year-old French tourist while drunk on cocaine and booze and wearing only a pair of pink shorts.
After slashing Laurent Volpe with a kitchen knife, 38-year-old Nicholas Foy threatened by stabbing passers-by in Eltham, south-east London,
Before he could be taken into custody, officers had to use Tasers on him multiple times.
A delivery driver who fatally stabbed a French tourist just yards from where Stephen Lawrence was slain faces the possibility of life in prison today.
Nicholas Foy, 38, went up to Laurent Volpe, 49, and stabbed him in the stomach with a kitchen knife while intoxicated on ‘a deadly cocktail’ of cocaine and alcohol.
After a day of sightseeing, Mr. Volpe, a father of two and an engineer, decided to walk to the nearest store to pick up some groceries for his family’s dinner.
Police had to use Tasers on Foy multiple times before he was finally apprehended in Eltham, a south-east London neighbourhood.
The 38-year-old agreed to killing Mr. Volpe, but said he had no intention of inflicting such a severe injury because he was intoxicated and could not remember anything at the time of the incident.
“A family of four is now reduced to three,” Cecile Chapais, the partner of Mr Volpe, said in a victim impact statement.
“Smiling, friendly, full of life, and a man with whom I shared more than 20 years of my life,” was how she described Mr. Volpe.
While Ms. Chapais wept in court, Foy remained mute in the Old Bailey dock.
After five hours and 18 minutes of deliberation, a jury of ten women and two men found Foy guilty of murder by an 11-1 majority.
Convicted murderer Sarah Munro QC remarked to Foy, “You have been sentenced to life in jail for the crime for which you were convicted.”
On Friday, February 16th, he will be sentenced.
It was ‘nearly too terrible to bear, both mentally and physically,’ Tony Volpe said of the death of his brother Laurent.
‘I miss my brother Laurent every day,’ he said. ‘I worry about him all the time.’
Mr Volpe and his family, who were sleeping in a leased house in Eltham, had been out and about on August 11 of last year.
Afterward, they rode a boat to Greenwich to see the Royal Observatory before visiting Tower Bridge and Southwark for lunch.
It was determined that Mr. Volpe would go to the adjacent Co-op for food while his companion made plans for the next day.
After ending work early, Foy indulged in binge drinking and cocaine use.
Without saying a word, he hurried up to Mr. Volpe as he walked down the street and stabbed him in the stomach.
He and Laurent Volpe said nothing and the attack was utterly unprovoked, according to prosecutor Oliver Glasgow QC.
‘ Screaming in anguish, Mr. Volpe could be seen clutching his stomach.
When he finally got to the end of the road and fell, he managed to stay on his feet and wobble to the ground.
Threatening and shouting “Do you want to be next,” Foy made threats to stunned bystanders.
Refuse bins were used by one man to protect himself from an attack.
In his shorts and blood-stained knife, Foy raced along the road before being caught when he tried to return to his house via neighboring gardens.
According to Mr. Glasgow, because of his aggressive nature, he had to be Tasered multiple times before he was finally brought under control.
A police officer who stood guard over him was headbutted by a man who refused to help him.’
Mr. Volpe’s liver had been punctured by an 11-centimeter lesion. He passed away three days later in the hospital.
Glasgow told the jury that Foy was “powered with a fatal combination of drink and drugs.”
‘The attack was completely unprovoked,’ said Mr. Glasgow. We may never know what drove him to commit such a horrific deed, slicing the throat of a stranger.’
Although he denied it, Eltham resident Foy was found guilty of murder notwithstanding his denials.
Foy confessed manslaughter, alleging a lack of purpose, but denied murder but was convicted of murder at the Old Bailey on Monday.
The man was chastised in court for his “selfish and murderous deed” as he was sentenced to a minimum of 17 years.
Judge Sarah Munro QC said: “You took with you a huge kitchen knife, walking back and front across the road to gouge your foot, assuming there was a bomb.
“Cecile Chapais lost her spouse, two children lost their father, a brother his sibling, and a mother her son as a result of your selfish and murderous deed.
“He was a well-respected physicist and an outstanding triathlete. The father in his life was a good man who loved his children.
As a result, his children are left without a backup parent.
During the 24-hour binge, the man drank five pints of lager and a liter of Jack Daniels whiskey and rum before the attack in August last year, according to the prosecutor’s statement.
Her words were chilling: “You knew combining the two would make you irrational, violent, and potentially deadly.”
According to Mr. Volpe’s long-term companion and confidante Cecile Chapais, he was a “smiling, compassionate person full of life.”
Volpe’s children spoke of their grief in the family impact statement, with one saying, “There is no term to describe how I feel.”
As a defense attorney, Orlando Pownall QC, said, “Everything that happened occurred throughout what was a schizophrenic or delusional state.”
According to him, Foy, who has a history of assault convictions, had shown “genuine” regret, and his girlfriend had praised him as a “wonderful father” to the court.
During Foy’s transfer off the pier, Foy’s partner wept and was comforted by their son.
