Mental patient on day release pushed man in front of train

A FORMER Royal Mail worker pushed a commuter in front of a Tube train while on day release from a mental health unit.

Alan Alencar, 29, had been discharged from a hospital unit in Edinburgh so he could travel to London to visit his mother.

He approached 55-year-old Alain Lesjongard, a global finance expert, from behind and shoved him with both hands as the London Underground train pulled into the platform at Bayswater station.

The driver applied the brakes but did not have time to stop before the train hit Mr Lesjongard, a father of two from Putney, south-west London.

Alencar, of Dalry, Edinburgh, yesterday admitted the attempted murder of Mr Lesjongard on Nov 2 last year.

Mr Lesjongard crawled to safety from beneath the carriage and was taken to hospital suffering from “serious” but not life-threatening injuries, the Old Bailey heard.

Judge Sarah Munro QC ordered that Alencar be held in custody pending a sentencing hearing on March 9.

Andrew Forsyth, Alencar’s barrister, said his client, who has a long history of psychiatric illness, “sends his heartfelt apologies” to Mr Lesjongard and his family.

“He had also that day been to see his mother who was self-detained in a psychiatric unit,” Mr Forsyth said, adding that his client was “seriously ill at the time”.

Alencar had become “immediately regretful” and had signalled to try to stop the train hurtling towards Mr Lesjongard.