(Image: Irene Miller/Getty)
A man from Bradford who tried to set fire to fuel pumps at a petrol station told police he was under “electro-magnetic therapy”, a court has heard.
Guy Ward has now been detained in a secure mental hospital under the Mental Health Act.
Prosecutor Mollie Briggs told Bradford Crown Court how Ward, now 23, was caught on CCTV lifting up fuel pumps and attempting to ignite them with a cigarette lighter.
Where did it happen?
The incident took place at a Shell service station on Kirkstall Road in Leeds at 3.40am on June 1 last year.
Ward then smashed a window to climb into a nearby shop where he drank two bottles of champagne in the foyer area.
He also tried to break another window with a chair but gave up after three attempts.
'I’m hypnotised'
When found by police, Ward was ordered to drop the bottles, which he eventually did.
In custody he told officers, “I’m hypnotised” and “I’m under electro-magnetic therapy, laser subliminal messaging, and classical conditions.”
He then gave no comment answers.
Coop burglaries
The court heard that, on May 23, Ward had leapt over the counter of a Co-op store in Bradford to pull out a drawer and pull out two packets of cigarettes. He also took bakery items and sweets.
He had earlier taken sandwiches.
Three days later he returned to the same store and took more foodstuffs but was intercepted by a security worker.
Ward said he was wanted for arrest and asked that the police be called.
Man receives hospital order
Ward, of Hallwood Green, Ravenscliffe, pleaded guilty to two non-dwelling burglaries, a theft from a shop, two offences of refusing to provide a sample for a Class A drugs test, and attempt arson.
He was initially remanded into custody but later admitted to Lynfield Mount Hospital.
The court heard that Ward, who did not appear in court for sentencing, had no previous convictions.
His Honour Judge Jonathan Rose observed that Ward had been in custody for more than a year, which was the equivalent of a two-year prison sentence, and that his offending would not have attracted a sentence approaching that length.
He said: “It is the position that Guy Ward was and is suffering from a mental disorder, and a severe disorder of a schizophrenic variety.
“[That disorder] is of a degree which makes it appropriate for him to be detained in a hospital for medical treatment.
“Accordingly, I make a hospital order in respect of each of the offences.”