Moses Christensen has been found guilty at Stafford Crown Court of the murder of 70-year-old Richard Hall, who was stabbed to death last summer on Shropshire’s Brown Clee Hill.

Christensen, from Stourbridge, had denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Adjourning the case until March 16, Mr Justice Pepperall told Christensen: “I am going to delay sentencing.

“But understand this. There is only one sentence that can be passed and that is a sentence of life imprisonment.”

Following the verdict, the court was told further psychiatric evidence would be presented to the judge before the sentencing hearing, to be held at Birmingham Crown Court.

The court was also told the verdict meant there was “no basis in law” for the court to pass an interim hospital order.

Jurors at Stafford Crown Court had been told they must decide whether Christensen is guilty of murder or manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

And after being sent out earlier today, they have now convicted him of the pensioner's murder.

Christensen told officers his intention was to “go out and kill or be killed” as he searched Shropshire’s Brown Clee Hill before the killing of Richard Hall on August 13 last year.

Informing police that he had been living rough for around three days when he killed Mr Hall, Christensen added that his plan was “nothing personal” and that he had “wanted to do it silently” without any witnesses.

Jurors heard that he also told officers: “I was roaming around, intending to find targets… some small groups who I thought I could overpower.”

Asked by a detective about an elderly couple he had not attacked, Christensen responded: “I didn’t feel comfortable. I could see people on the hillside in the distance so I planned for further targets. That is what I was doing.”

Addressing the fatal attack on Mr Hall, who lived in Perton in South Staffordshire, Christensen told police that foggy conditions had provided a “good opportunity”, with many of his “criteria” in place.

Christensen, of Corser Street, Stourbridge, West Midlands, is alleged to have been soaking wet when he was arrested by police in the Burwarton area on the evening of August 13.

According to his account to police, Christensen had submerged himself in a pond after the killing, where he hid from what he assumed to be a police helicopter looking for him.

Giving evidence via video-link on Thursday, Home Office-approved pathologist Dr Brett Lockyer said Mr Hall had suffered a total of 26 injuries, including a “horrific” wound to his hand and another which had penetrated his skull.

Mr Hall, who was killed by wounds to his neck and chest, would have died in “seconds to minutes” due to the severity of his injuries, Dr Lockyer told the court.