A court has heard how an ISIS-inspired fanatic was in “state of acute psychosis” and could see demons when he slashed a stranger’s throat at Leytonstone tube station.

Judge, Richard Marks QC, will decide what impact mental illness played when Muhiddin Mire, 30, attacked musician Lyle Zimmerman, 56, on December 5 last year.

Paranoid schizophrenia sufferer Mire is due to be sentenced on Monday (August 1) after he was found guilty last month of attempted murder.

The Somali-born former minicab driver, of Sansom Road, Leytonstone, punched and kicked Mr Zimmerman to the ground before carving a “deep and ragged wound” in his neck.

During the attack, he called out: “this is for Syria, for my Muslim brothers”.

After police officers eventually Tasered Mire and he was apprehended, one onlooker shouted: “You ain’t no Muslim, bruv.”

Yesterday at the Old Bailey, the judge heard from mental health experts as he considered sentencing Mire for the offence, which could carry a full-life term.

Defence expert, forensic psychiatrist Dr Nigel Blackwood, told the court in 2006 Mire believed Allah was controlling his mind and he was being visited by djinns, Islamic demons.

Dr Blackwood said: “He is in a state of psychosis- something strange is happening and he is trying his best to understand what is going on.

“He saw ghosts and shadows flying outside his flat, he becomes convinced his upstairs neighbours are secret service agents.

“During this, he begins looking at ISIS-related material on his phone.

“He is in a very acute psychotic state, he is of course going to be drawn to material related to his religion and ethnicity and thus he is drawn to what is happening with ISIS and in Syria.

The prosecution’s expert, forensic psychiatrist Dr Philip Joseph, said Mire’s condition could be not only be attributed to mental illness, but also extremist ideology and cannabis misuse.

Dr Joseph told the court: “He believed security services had become involved in his life in the last three years after watching ISIS videos online.

“The extremist beliefs came before any fears about being followed by agents and it may be rational for someone accessing this information to have those fears.

“At the time of this offence, he has not said he is being controlled by Allah to carry out this attack or being controlled by djinns.”

Mire is due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Monday morning