A mental health nurse cornered by a violent patient trying to "stab him to death" was left to fight for his life after his personal alarm failed to activate.
Edward Inatimi was left bleeding from wounds to his stomach, on April 18 last year, after 74-year-old Raymond Pearse racially abused him and launched an unprovoked attack without warning.
Pearse had spent much of his life in mental health institutions since being sectioned in 1975 and had a chronic and "treatment resistant" form of paranoid schizophrenia. He was living in Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust run unit Heys Court, in Garston, at the time of the incident.
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On Thursday, Liverpool Crown Court heard of a series of concerning issues that left Mr Inatimi lucky to escape without severe injuries. Firstly, before the attack Pearse had absconded from his living quarters and went on the run to London.
Sarah Griffin, prosecuting, said he was found and brought back to Garston, but unknown to staff he had smuggled two knives and "sharp objects" back with him. And then, as Mr Inatimi was fighting for his life, the alarm he was carrying "failed to activate".
The court head that at around 8.10pm on the day of the attack, Mr Inatimi, who had been Pearse's designated nurse, saw the pensioner standing near to the ward office.
Ms Griffin said: "As he got closer to the defendant, the defendant turned around, took a knife out of his jacket and pointed it at Mr Inatimi. The defendant told him that he was going to stab him to death."
The court heard Mr Inatimi backed off but Pearse called him a racial slur and advanced, holding the knife "firmly" and jabbing it towards him. Ms Griffin said Mr Inatimi tried to calm Pearse down and pressed his personal alarm, but it failed to activate.
Mersey Care said it regarded any assaults on staff as "completely unacceptable" and that their "safety is paramount". A spokesperson said: "Mersey Care continues to review and learn from all incidents, understand any actions required and ensure our organisation learns from them. We also offer our staff a comprehensive Occupational Health and Health and Wellbeing service to extend our support to deal with the impact of the challenging issues they may encounter.
"Our Trust continues to work to tackle violence and abuse against our staff and has established a Violence Reduction Programme which aims to protect our workforce against deliberate violence and aggression from patients, service users, their families and the public, and to ensure offenders are reported to the police."
The court heard that during the incident nurse took the brave decision not to shout out for help to prevent other patients and staff being put at risk, and instead decided to just keep backing away.
Ms Griffin said: "Unfortunately, he got stuck between a table and a door frame. The defendant was getting closer and seemed angry. When the defendant realised Mr Inatimi was stuck he lunged toward him with the knife.
"Mr Inatimi instinctively grabbed the defendant’s upper arms to try to minimise any injury. Mr Inatimi struggled with the defendant to try to keep the knife away from him but he could feel the defendant pushing the knife hard towards him.
"Both men ended up on the floor before Ms Clarke and Ms Kyriakidis came over to where they were. Mr Inatimi managed to grab the knife that the defendant had dropped to the floor in the struggle and the defendant was escorted back to his room."
The court heard once Pearse was safely back in his room, Mr Inatimi realised he had blood running down his abdomen and seeping through his clothes from several puncture wounds. He was rushed to Aintree Hospital but did not require surgery.
Ms Griffin said a search was carried out on Pearse's room where a second knife and other "sharp objects" were discovered
In a statement read in court, Mr Inatimi said: "I am still in shock and trying to process what has happened to me. The horror of having to fight for my life at work, where I should be safe, plagues me. I have been having flashbacks and night terrors about what happened.
"I have also suffered from nightmares where I was unable to disarm Pearse and he then proceeds to harm the other patients in my care or my colleagues who were working with me."
The court heard the pensioner was ruled unfit to stand trial, but a jury at Liverpool Crown Court concluded he had committed the act of wounding Mr Inamiti after a fact finding hearing.
John Weate, defending Pearse, called on consultant psychiatrist Dr Martin Williams to give evidence at the hearing. Dr Williams said he was Pearse's treating clinician at his new home at the Gateway Recovery Centre secure hospital in Widnes.
Under questioning from Mr Weate, Dr Williams said Pearse suffered from delusional beliefs and occasional auditory hallucinations, and sometimes resisted or refused treatment.
He said: "Mr Pearse has a long history of aggressive acts which we can link to his mental disorder. This violence and aggression has at times incorporated the use of weapons. The description of his presentation on the day of the offence is indicative of a degree of malign intent, and those risks remain."
Dr Williams said he believed the right setting for Pearse was inside a secure hospital, such as the one he is currently living in, due to his risk of harm to the public.
Judge Judith Bond, passing sentence, said she was satisfied that Pearse's chronic mental condition and aggressive behaviour meant that a hospital order with restrictions under Section 37(41) of the Mental Health Act was justified, meaning strict conditions must be met before Pearse can ever be released from hospital.
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