Mental patient attacked doctor

Jan 16 2008 by Hillary Clixby, The Journal

A TRAINEE doctor was left fearing for her life when a mentally-ill stranger brutally attacked her in a Northumberland health centre.

Johannah Langmead was knocked to the floor and repeatedly punched in the face by Steven Nurse in a prolonged unprovoked assault.

“I was terrified,” Dr Langmead said in a statement read out yesterday at Newcastle Crown Court. “I believe if someone hadn’t come into the room, I would have been killed by this man.”

Ms Langmead, who is in her 20s, was taken to Newcastle General Hospital for injuries including a suspected fractured jaw and eye socket, two black eyes and loose teeth.

In her statement she described how she had been working alone dealing with prescriptions in a room at Prudhoe Health Centre in West Wylam, when Nurse burst into the room, “frothing at the mouth”.

She said: “I felt really uneasy and I had been trained to deal with violent patients. I looked towards the door and then the telephone. I was concerned for my own safety.

“As I stood up, the man stood up. Within seconds of getting out of my chair, he attacked me, punching me, waving his arms about ferociously and shouting at me.

“I was stunned and shocked. I remember him walking over to the door of the room and he locked the door.

“The man approached me and punched me really hard to the left side of the jaw. I fell to the floor. He continued to punch me repeatedly. As he continued to punch me, his punches became harder. It all happened very fast.”

Dr Langmead, who was off work for seven weeks because of the assault, added: “I believe that if someone hadn’t come into the room, I would have been killed by this man. After the attack, I was very emotional. I was shaking and crying and I felt sick.”

Nurse, 34, of Broomhouse Road, Prudhoe, had denied causing grievous bodily harm by reason of insanity.

He was found not guilty of the offence by a jury which heard evidence from two psychiatrists who both agreed he was suffering from a psychotic episode due to bi-polar disorder at the time of the attack.

Nurse, whose symptoms included delusions that people wanted to kill him, was receiving no medication for the illness at the time, but has since been receiving treatment to control his condition, the court heard.

He was released on conditional bail by Judge Brian Forster, while reports are drawn up to rule on what treatment he needs to protect the public.

Judge Forster told him: “It is right I consider the question of the protection of the public and the issue of dangerousness.

“I’m sure everyone understands the concern of the public is to ensure this type of situation doesn’t happen again because clearly on any view, the incident was terrible, shocking for the doctor involved.”

The court heard how Nurse has had mental health problems since 2001 and in the days leading up to the attack had spent many hours playing violent computer games which may have made it difficult for him to distinguish between fiction and reality.