A PARANOID man who tried to strangle his friend during a violent psychotic episode believed he had to “kill all the devils on earth”.

Prosecutor Nathan Davis told Bradford Crown Court that Andrew Jarman, 58, had moved in with his friend after a lengthy relationship broke down.

He had been living with his friend for around four weeks and spent time smoking cannabis, watching videos about tarot cards and devils, and “acting strangely”.

In the early hours of June 1 last year, the friend woke to find Jarman standing at the end of his bed.

Jarman said he had been sent “to kill all the devils on earth” before attacking his friend, putting first one hand and then both hands around his neck in an attempt to strangle him.

Pushing him down into the mattress, he said: “I’m going to kill you.”

The friend managed to remove Jarman’s hands from his neck but was then punched in the eye. He asked Jarman to stop but was then put into a headlock from which he managed to escape.

He said later that he thought he was going to die.

He struggled free, fled the scene, in Roper Green, Halifax, and ran to a neighbour’s house from where he dialled 999.

When police officers arrived Jarman, who was “animated and incoherent”, asked: “Have I killed him? Is he dead?”

He said later: “I wanted to murder him. It was pure anger and rage.”

In a victim impact statement, Jarman’s friend said the incident had had a significant impact on his day-to-day living leading to issues of anxiety, of trust, and around allowing people to stay at his address.

He said he was “on edge” when going out and was in fear of being attacked.

Jarman, who appeared via video link from HMP Leeds, had previously pleaded guilty to making a threat to kill and of attempted strangulation.

In mitigating Miss Jade Bucklow said Jarman had been diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis and that his actions “are entirely accounted for by the psychosis”.

She said he had become consumed by paranoid delusions, which were due to him watching “increasingly dark” videos online.

She said when the psychosis wore off he found it “quite shocking how far removed from reality he had been”, and that he was “ashamed”.

Having read a psychiatric report Recorder Patrick Palmer said the “distressing incident” was due to psychosis and imposed an 18-month prison sentence suspended for two years.

He also imposed a five-year restraining order on Jarman and ordered him to take part in a rehabilitation programme and to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.