A man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a university worker in a series of knife attacks in Birmingham last year that left seven other people seriously injured. Zephaniah McLeod, 28, of Selly Oak, Birmingham, also admitted four counts of attempted murder and three charges of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm on the grounds of diminished responsibility. McLeod, who appeared in Birmingham crown court via a video link from Ashworth hospital, carried out the stabbings in the early hours of Sunday 6 September last year, as the city was packed with revellers. McLeod was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, the court heard, and has been in custody since being charged with the attacks. At about 12.30am on 6 September last year, a 33-year-old man was stabbed on Constitution Hill, leaving him with a neck wound. Twenty minutes later, a 25-year-old woman was stabbed in her shoulder on Livery Street and, minutes after that on Barwick Street, a 29-year-old man was left in a critical condition with a chest wound. From the CCTV evidence, it emerged that after leaving Barwick Street McLeod dumped his knife in a drain and caught a taxi to his home in Selly Oak, where he re-armed himself before heading back into the city centre to continue his assault an hour later. At 1.50am on Irving Street, McLeod attacked a group of school friends from Liverpool who were returning to their hotel after a night out while visiting one of their group who was studying in Birmingham. Jacob Billington, a 23-year-old graduate trainee at Sheffield Hallam University, was fatally stabbed in the neck and his close friend, Michael Callaghan, also 23, critically injured. Two men, aged 29 and 24, were stabbed on Hurst Street and McLeod also inflicted critical injuries on a 23-year-old woman shortly afterwards. Police used CCTV footage from across the city and matched the clothing McLeod wore to witness and victim descriptions. He was arrested from his home address 24 hours later. Billington’s family, who were present at the hearing, described him as “the light of our life” in a statement issued at the time. “He lit up every room with his boundless energy and witty humour and the loss of such a special person will be felt by all who knew him for years to come,” they said. The West Midlands police force was criticised in the aftermath of the attacks for its reaction times, including concerns footage of the suspect was not released quickly enough, but the chief constable, Dave Thompson, later defended his officers’ “reasonable and well-considered” response to the attacks. DCI Jim Munro, who was the senior investigating officer for the case, said the force often received several reports of assaults, some involving weapons, on a busy weekend so the incidents were not automatically linked. “McLeod has never given an explanation for his actions that night which leaves no closure for his victims or their families and friends, although I am pleased that the admission of his crimes has spared those involved the ordeal of a trial,” Munro said. McLeod will be subject to mental health reports ahead of his sentencing on 27 and 28 September.