A UNIVERSITY student whose brain became warped after “never-ending” drug abuse dismissed desperate pleas from his victim to seek help.

Adam Butt terrified those close to him as he told them he could see demons in the corners of his eyes and confessed he was “going crazy” before fatally stabbing American girlfriend Mary Wells.

On the night of January 16, 2021, the 23-year-old launched a “brutal” and premeditated attack on 21-year-old Mary, who had arrived in the UK to travel.

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In evidence read to Chelmsford Crown Court on Friday, Butt’s friends detailed how he became “unrecognisable” and “manic” as his mental state rapidly declined towards the end of November 2020.

Mark Milleken-Smith, prosecuting, delivered accounts of what friends had told the police in statements, revealing the University of Essex student started to smoke cannabis and take acid and MDMA.

Gazette: Response - police at the scene in GreensteadResponse - police at the scene in Greenstead

“He drank a considerable amount of alcohol,” added the prosecutor. “He was constantly abusing recreational drugs. One friend said they had never seen him sober.

“Friends say by January 2021 he had changed unrecognisably. They pleaded with him to go to therapy.”

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The court heard Butt started to have “aggressive outbursts” often due to a mixture of drink and drugs, causing Wells to become anxious before arguments would ensue.

Butt later told his girlfriend “I could easily kill you right now” while armed with a fragment of a broken mirror.

On another occasion he ripped her necklace off her throat and said “the animal in me is trying to talk,” added Mr Milleken-Smith.

Gazette: Tragic - Mary WellsTragic - Mary Wells

Another account from a friend explained those close to Butt had began to feel uneasy in his presence as he had become “manic and paranoid”.

“He thought he could see through people and he knew what they were thinking,” he explained, adding Butt had told him “Mary is a tumour in my brain”.

Butt also told another friend his relationship with Wells had gone toxic due to her “nagging” him to seek help.

At 6am on January 17, Mary was declared dead by paramedics after Butt killed her in a “frenzied” stabbing at their home in Laing Road, Colchester.