Thug called man a ‘paedo’ then attacked and robbed him

JON MACPHERSON

ATHUG who chased a man down a street and robbed him after calling him a ‘paedo’ has been detained under the Mental Health Act.

John Joseph Warwick, of College Street, Accrington, was on Meadow Street with another male and female when he saw the victim approach him.

Burnley Crown Court heard how the victim was then ‘subjected to abuse’.

Francis McEntee, pros- ecuting, told the court how Warwick then chased the victim along the road and ‘punched him to the face’.

He then followed the man home and ‘kicked him to his abdomen’ before stealing his mobile phone. The court heard how the victim sustained a broken jaw and needed an operation under general anaesthetic and plates to be inserted.

In a victim personal statement read out at court, the man said he has suffered from ‘anxiety and sleepless nights’ since the incident and now exercises ‘extreme caution’ when in a public place.

The court was told how he was left in ‘severe discomfort’ for six months after the attack and it ‘impacted on his social activities’ and he was left him ‘always checking over his shoulder’.

Mr McEntee said the incident on June 20, 2015, had also affected his role as a carer and he ‘suffered financial loss’ to replace the mobile phone.

Warwick, 30, pleaded guilty to robbery in March 2016 and was due to appear at court in November 2016.

However the court heard how he failed to answer his bail and ‘went on the run’. He was eventually arrested in June this year after living by the M65 in a tent.

He has now been given a hospital order under the section 37 of the Mental Health Act

Gemma Maxwell, defending, told the court: “He was on bail in relation to these matters in November when he failed to surrender [to court].

“He then went on the run and lived in a tent on the M65 until June this year when he was picked up on a warrant.”

Sentencing, Judge Jonathan Gibson said: “It’s very clear from these medical reports that you suffer from more than one disorder, but certainly of a mental disorder which is of a nature or degree which makes it appropriate for you to be detained in a hospital for medical treatment.”