A man with schizophrenia has been detained in a secure mental health hospital after assaulting a schoolchild and setting fire to his own flat during a psychiatric relapse.
Mark Barrow set fire to his bed in his top floor Ocean Housing flat in Battalion Close, Bodmin. This happened minutes after he pushed a 12-year-old schoolboy onto the road in Priory Park and kicked him for no reason.
Emergency services were called to the property by a fellow resident as the fire alarm rang. The neighbour went up to check Barrow's flat but could not see him as the flat was filled with thick smoke. The resident called 999 and firefighters and police were called.
A sentencing hearing at Truro Crown Court on Tuesday, September 22 heard how Barrow, 36, was located in a ground floor flat and admitted starting the fire in the property. A fire lighter was also found on him. He also made some admission in connection with assaulting the child earlier in the day on April 28.
He was arrested and taken to the police station where he assaulted the custody suite officer and put him in a headlock. He had to be restrained by other officers before he would release the custody sergeant. He was charged with one count of assault by beating, one count of arson with recklessness to endanger life and another of assaulting an emergency worker.
The court heard that he caused some £50,000 worth of damage to his flat and the flat below. Barrow has previous convictions for damaging property.
Forensic psychiatrist James Sterritt, who assessed Barrow, told the court that Barrow is a schizophrenic who had a psychiatric disorder relapse at the time of the incidents. He said Barrow suffers from persecution delusions, irritability, propension to violence. Dr Sterritt told the court that Barrow has made progress while staying at the Langdon psychiatric hospital in Devon but that improvement would end if he were to be released now. He recommended a S37/S41 order under the Mental Health Act be made to limit the risk Barrow would pose to the public if he were to stop taking his medications.
A Section 37/41 order of the Mental Health Act 1983 is a combined hospital and restriction order made by the Crown court, sending a person to a psychiatric hospital for medical treatment instead of sending them to prison.
In mitigation for Barrow, Nikki Combe said he regrets his actions. She said: "There clearly is a link to his mental illness. He responds well to treatment and hopes to be released into the community as soon as it is appropriate."
Making the S37/S41 order until further notice, His Honour Judge James Adkin said Barrow had deliberately set his bed on fire and caused £50,000 worth of damage to the property and the flat below. He said Barrow had previously assaulted the schoolboy in a random act of violence and put a custody officer in a headlock after being taken to the police station. He imposed the order and its special restrictions because of the current danger Barrow presents to the public.
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Man Sent to Secure Hospital for Attack on Boy and Arson