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A British man has been sentenced to almost nine years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter, following his horrific killing of his girlfriend while under the influence of cannabis.

Jake Notman had just consumed his allegedly first-ever cannabis-laced brownie when he descended into an extreme psychotic episode. 25-year-old Lauren Bloomer, his girlfriend, was trying to care for him as his condition deteriorated, but 28-year-old Jake became aggressive and then violent, ultimately stabbing Lauren 30 times, strangling her, and then running over her with his car.

The entire incident was recorded by the victim on her mobile phone, which she activated at the start, apparently realizing that the situation was complex; the full recording was almost 17 minutes in length. Notman became aggressive around half-way through the recording, at which Bloomer began to call for help via a second phone.

Toward the end of the recording, Notman can be heard saying, “I’m going to make sure,” which is followed by the sound of a car’s revving engine. Neighbors witnessed him running over Bloomer. Notman then called police and told the operator that he had “been told I have killed my girlfriend.”

According to defense counsel, Notman suffered an “extreme florid psychiatric episode, in the course of which he totally lost touch with reality and became wholly delusional.” Mrs. Justice May, in her sentencing, concurred with the defense, stating that she was “quite sure that the psychotic state which Jake Notman was in, was at least in part a response to the cannabis which he had taken.”

She added that Notman had shown concern and remorse for his actions.

Notman was convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, after the Crown Prosecution declined to offer evidence on the count of murder, explaining that:

“Notman had ingested cannabis which led to a psychotic episode. Three forensic consultant psychiatrists concluded Notman had experienced a highly unusual type of psychosis at the time of the killing, which meant that he could not form the intention to commit murder, even the type of intention that can still be formed when a person has consumed drugs or alcohol.

“This expert advice meant there was no longer a realistic chance of conviction for murder, and Notman has now accepted responsibility for the unlawful killing of Lauren Bloomer by entering a guilty plea to manslaughter.”

Justice May concluded that, “There is an obvious lesson… that cannabis can be very dangerous. It is an illegal drug for good reason.”