Remember me
A mental health nurse was left traumatised and scarred after being stabbed by a patient suffering from schizophrenia at a psychiatric care unit.
Alexander Horton, 34, had been admitted to the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend for treatment just three days before he launched an unprovoked attack on the nurse around 11.55pm on October 30, 2024.
The incident unfolded as the nurse was carrying out her routine nightly checks. Cardiff Crown Court heard that Horton emerged from his room and calmly asked for help.
However, as she approached him, he put her in a headlock and began assaulting her face with a sharpened pen.
The nurse felt the pen pierce her left eyebrow and realised her face was covered in blood. The assault lasted about eight seconds until other staff members intervened to restrain Horton, and the nurse was immediately rushed to A&E, according to Wales Online.
She suffered two cuts to her left eyebrow and one to the side of it. A broken pen, its tip soaked, was later found at the scene.
Upon his arrest, Horton requested valium, stating he felt as if the "world was coming to an end" and he was "trapped." He confessed to missing his medication that day, which led to something within him "snapping."
He expressed regret for his actions, admitting he felt "horrible" afterwards.
Horton, from Llanarth Road in Llanarth, Monmouthshire, subsequently admitted to intentional strangulation and a section 18 wounding offence. The court heard he had no previous convictions.
A victim personal statement read out in court detailed the nurse's trauma: "I felt fear each time I entered the ward, not knowing whether he was going to attack me again or if he had another assault planned against me.
"Since the attack I am even more so acutely aware of my surroundings, especially in the presence of male patients in case I could be assaulted in some way again. It has left me with two scars, one to my eyebrow and another to my temple. The cuts are healing but I'm conscious the scars are still there.
"People will ask me about the scars and I have to explain what happened and relive the incident and become upset. The incident has become part of my life I am struggling to forget about. I'm lucky the pen didn't puncture my eyeball. My sight did come back but it left me feeling shaken up."
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Defence counsel informed the court that Horton had conducted himself appropriately whilst undergoing psychiatric treatment, with nothing to suggest he posed a violent threat prior to the assault. Sentencing him, Judge Paul Hobson said: "(The victim) was someone who was simply doing her job, trying to care for and help you. What you did and the injury you caused has had a profound effect upon her."
Horton was made subject to a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.