Jury hears 999 call made by grandson of millionaire restaurant owner ‘when he stabbed her 17 times’

A cannabis-smoking teenager called police to “turn himself in” after he allegedly stabbed her 17 times inside his £1m home.

Pietro Addis, now 19, told the 999 operator: “I’m calling to turn myself in. There has been a murder” in audio played to jurors at his murder trial today.

He admitted to killing his grandmother, Brighton restaurateur Sue Addis, but has denied the murder and is on trial at Lewes Crown Court.

Addis, 69, the owner of Brighton restaurants Donatello and Pinocchio, was stabbed 17 times in the neck and chest by Addis while bathing, the court heard.

During the brief call, Addis says his name, age, and address before the line appears to go dead. The operator returns the call and asks again: ‘who has been killed?’

Addis said ‘my grandmother’, before saying she would be found in the bathtub. She told the operator that the incident occurred 20 minutes prior to the call, prompting a request for an ambulance to urgently attend the scene.

The operator asked Addis to confirm if he was sure his grandmother was dead, to which he replied: “100 percent.”

Ms Addis died at her home in Brighton on January 7, 2021, during the third lockdown.

The court heard that her grandmother had become concerned about her increased cannabis use and wanted to get her psychiatric help.

The teen had been diagnosed with ADHD and was prescribed medication for the condition, but also regularly smoked cannabis and took Xanax, an antidepressant.

While using the drug mix, his behavior had deteriorated and Addis was skipping college and not showing up for shifts at his family’s restaurant.

The court heard that he smoked one or two cannabis joints a night, three or four times a week.

Addis had been living with her father, Leo, and stepmother during the lockdown in Brighton, but after an argument she moved away and went to live with her grandmother.

His father believed that the ADHD medication he had been prescribed was largely to blame for his son’s problems and would flush the medication down the toilet.

This led to arguments in the house, and at the end of December, after a particularly bad dispute, it was decided that he would live with his grandmother in her £1 million house in Withdean, Brighton.

His grandmother told her friends, Sue Eastman and Denise Taylor, that she was concerned about his cannabis use.

He also wrote to Dr Daphne Keen, the psychologist who diagnosed his ADHD in 2018, that his grandson continually smoked ‘weed’, which when combined with his medications had made him listless and sluggish.

She wrote: ‘He is suffering from paranoia and we are all getting upset with him instead of helping. He still says that he can’t do anything without Elvanse [his ADHD drug] but also with the grass it has become impossible to reason with him.

“He just wants to sit in his room all day and it’s an effort to get him to do anything.”

Friend George Cameron noticed a change in the teenager in the months leading up to the murder. He told police that his friend had become “negative and despondent” and he too had become paranoid.

In the days leading up to the incident, Addis had also been acting strangely. knocking on his grandmother’s bedroom door at night telling her he loved her.

Rossano Scamardella KC, prosecutor, said that on the day of her death, Ms Addis returned from work at Donatello around 4 pm and began searching online for treatment for her grandson.

He said: ‘She was investigating ”The Priory, Ticehurst”, a private clinic/hospital for mental health and addiction treatment.

He also looked up “Brighton to Ticehurst by car”, presumably to see how far it was. Police investigations into the Priory indicate that no inquiries were in fact received from Ms Addis, but it appears that she was considering inpatient treatment for her grandson at a specialist centre.

Footage of his arrest was also shown to the jury today, showing him expressionless and giving monotone responses.

Today, the officers described the gruesome scene they were faced with when they arrived at the home.

PC Richard Hall said he entered the house and arrested Addis before going upstairs.

He told the jury that he walked down the hall upstairs and located the bathroom where he found the restaurateur lying in the bathtub.

I saw Mrs. Addis lying in the bath. I rushed over and immediately realized that she was dead.

‘She was lying in the bath with her head tilted towards his chest. She was completely naked. I could see several puncture wounds on the front of her body.

He told Lewes Crown Court that there was only a small amount of water in the bath and that it was stained with his blood.

PC Hall said: ‘It was red. There were many pieces of torn newspapers floating in the water.

‘There was blood splattering around the bathroom. There was a knife on the floor. It was quite a substantial kitchen knife.

“I took his right arm placing it across his chest and asked him if he could hear me. He had blue fingers and was still quite warm to the touch.

He told the jury that he and a second officer moved Ms. Addis and saw a larger wound on her abdomen.

He said: “I remember seeing a lot of puncture wounds and then paramedics arrived on the scene.”

The jury was also shown body camera footage recorded by PC Annabella Perfect, who also arrived on the scene.

In it, Addis wears a white hoodie and responds in monosyllables to officers’ questions.

He gives his name and date of birth and the agents ask him where the weapon he used is located.

Addis says that he might have broken his hand, and the officers assure him that he will receive medical attention.

The officers tell him that due to his age, he will need to have an ‘appropriate adult’ informed of his arrest.