Treatment ordered for man after knife crime
A man who held a knife to his flatmate’s throat while suffering from psychosis has been ordered to undergo treatment for his mental health.
The man, whose name is suppressed, recently appeared for a disposition hearing in the Palmerston North District Court.
Judge Lance Rowe said the man was earlier found unfit to plead or stand trial on charges of threatening to kill, possession of a knife and assault.
The man was suffering from psychosis and schizophrenia when his health took a turn for the worse in September 2023.
On the evening of the incident, he held a knife to his flatmate’s throat and told him he would stab him. The victim sustained a cut to his neck.
The next day the man was found by police after waving them down.
He said his flatmate was bleeding out because he stabbed him, and showed police the knife.
He threatened to stab someone else unless he went back to jail.
Defence lawyer Jacinda Younger said her client had come a long way since his arrest and he was the healthiest she had seen him.
He was already in a facility undergoing treatment and any concerns about his safety had been addressed, she said.
She supported a recommendation for the judge to impose an order making him an in-patient at Palmerston North Hospital’s Ward 21.
Rowe, speaking directly to the man, said: “Today is the day you’re able to move on and concentrate on your health.”
He had a similar episode of offending in 2007 but had remained mostly well until the incident in 2023.
Rowe said they did not know why things suddenly escalated, but suspected it could have been because the man stopped taking his medication.
Psychiatric reports also confirmed the man was suffering from extensive delusions at the time of his offending, and explained “how unwell you were and the depth of your psychosis”.
Rowe believed with management, and if the man kept up his medication, he could be treated well in the community.
“When you are managed and comply with your medications and are free of other substances, you can be adequately stable in a community setting.”
He said the incident was a “near-tragedy” for the man and his victim and it was clear he needed long-term care.
“You need to remain vigilant you are looked after to keep you well and to make sure you don’t get into a position where you become subject to your psychosis and act on it.”
He agreed the most appropriate outcome was to impose an inpatient order under the Mental Health Act so the man could receive treatment.
“If you are well then I don’t think you are a risk ... you deserve to be well ... that’s probably an important point to make.”
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