A 42-year-old man who brutally stabbed another resident at housing for vulnerable people and then tried to put the blame on others has been detained under a hospital order.

Although Robert White stole £95 from the victim’s wallet, a judge called the killing motiveless and senseless.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that Derek Saxby, 67, was found with multiple wounds at the accommodation in London Street, Folkestone, on November 15 last year.

Jonathan Higgs, prosecuting, said Mr Saxby had been separated from his wife for some time and was described by others as a friendly, quiet man who did not get involved in arguments.

On the day he died he had said he was tired and going to his room to sleep.

Mr Higgs said White afterwards took a knife with a 12in blade from the kitchen and went to Mr Saxby’s room.

"Whatever occurred during that time in the room will remain a mystery," Mr Higgs said on Thursday. "At the time he left Mr Saxby, he was either dead or died shortly after."

White, he said, had the presence of mind to wash away some of the blood before returning the knife to a block in the kitchen. He then went into the television room.

Mr Higgs said White was to give the impression that two other men might have carried out the killing.

Mr Saxby was found face down on his bed with a large amount of blood around the room. He had 28 injuries. Emergency services were called but he was already dead.

White was agitated and repeated: "They are not going to take me away. They are not going to put me in a hospital."

He eventually confessed that he was the "murderer". He broke down and was detained under the Mental Health Act.

White admitted manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility.

Dr Michael Kingham, a psychiatrist at the Trevor Gibbens Unit in Maidstone, where White has been detained, said he suffered from a complex disorder.

He recommended a hospital order without limit of time to protect the public from serious harm.

"I am thinking in terms of years," he said. "At the moment he poses a risk to the public."

Passsing sentence, Judge Warwick McKinnon said: "This is a tragic case where the life of a human was motivelessly, seemingly, and senselessly taken by someone with psychiatric difficulties, the circumstances of the killing being quite dreadful."

The judge said White had the presence of mind to divert suspicion away from himself.

"You are clearly highly dangerous," he added.