A MENTAL health patient has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm after stabbing his cousin in a busy shopping street.

Suleiman Saalim, 26, slashed his relative with a knife outside his flat in Station Road, Chingford, at around 2pm on Wednesday January 20 this year.

Saalim said he was trying to defend himself from a hallucination that a "beast" was attacking him and that he never intended to hurt anyone.

But Snaresbrook Crown Court heard that there was no medical evidence to support such a claim.

Jurors heard how Saalim had returned from a two month trip to Abu Dhabi in the Middle East to discover that his cousin had got a parking ticket while borrowing his car.

Despite initially seeming calm about the fine, the pair later got into an argument and ended up fighting outside, before Saalim went indoors to get a knife.

Horrified shoppers and schoolchildren looked on as returned to the street and lunged the weapon into his relative's chest before calmly walking away.

His cousin was rushed to hospital in a critical condition but later recovered from his injuries.

The court was told that Saalim has a history of mental health issues, including depression and hearing voices in his head.

He also had reportedly not been taking anti-psychotic medication for a month prior to the incident.

However, Saalim's own psychiatrist told the court he believed that his patient had been using his illness as an excuse, and that such hallucinations were not consistent with his condition.

Jurors found Saalim guilty of GBH with intent by a majority of 11 to one, despite having the option of convicting him of a lesser charge of actual bodily harm.

He will be sentenced on Friday August 13.

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