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Patient Who Stabbed and Strangled Mental Health Nurse Given Hospital Order

The judge directed treatment under section 37 of the Mental Health Act following the defendant’s guilty pleas.

Overview

  • Cardiff Crown Court sentenced Alexander Horton, 34, for an unprovoked attack on a nurse at Bridgend’s Princess of Wales Hospital on October 30, 2024.
  • He put the nurse in a headlock and struck her face with a sharpened pen as she carried out nightly checks, before staff restrained him.
  • The victim was treated in A&E for eyebrow lacerations and temporary vision disturbance and now lives with two facial scars and ongoing fear at work.
  • Horton told police he has schizophrenia, said he had missed his medication that day, requested valium, and later expressed remorse.
  • Judge Paul Hobson said the assault had a profound effect on the victim, with mitigation noting no previous convictions and no further incidents in care.