'Son Of God' Arrested

A London-based Ghanaian, Robert Torto, who claims to be the 'Son Of God', has been arrested in Britain for preaching religious hatred and for the murder of two Asian shop assistants. Torto, 33, is said to have embarked on a hate campaign against Hindus and Muslims and proclaimed his religious mission as the destruction of all mosques, animal cloning centres, gay clubs, gender changing clinics and night clubs.

In pursuit of that, he was said to have thrown petrol bombs into a supermarket, leading to the two shop assistants, Khizar Hayat, 37, and Hamidullah Hamidi, 31, being trapped by the flames and smoke in the storeroom. They were pulled out unconscious but they died later. When he appeared before the Old Bailey (High Court), Torto, a resident of Stockwell, pleaded guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility.

He also pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger lives by fire-bombing a shop in Tulse Hill and the one in Stockwell which claimed the lives of the shop assistants. The prosecution said Torto had also told the police that he was planning to write to the United Nations to enforce a ban on all forms of sin. The Presiding Judge, Peter Beaumont, described Torto's acts as terrible and ordered him to be detained indefinitely in a secured hospital.

An earlier hearing was adjourned when Torto started shouting that he was the Son of God.