Schizophrenic Gregor Lord detained after attack on ex-girlfriend with pool cue

York Crown Court heard Wendy Hart had stepped out of her home in Lucas Avenue, Clifton, when schizophrenic Gregor David Lord, 42, hit her over the head with a pool cue.

Simon Kealey, prosecuting, said at the time of the attack Lord wrongly believed Mrs Hart had killed his mother and the attack left her bleeding from her head. It was the second time the schizophrenic’s delusions had led to him attacking people with a weapon in the mistaken belief they had harmed one of his parents, York Crown Court heard.

In 2000, a judge confined him to a psychiatric hospital near Wakefield and forbade doctors to release him without the consent of the Home Secretary.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr James Isherwood, who supervised Lord’s treatment, said Lord was allowed out under supervision in 2002 and two or three years later the Home Office gave him an absolute discharge.

Lord, 42, of Rowntree Avenue, Clifton, pleaded guilty to attempted wounding of Mrs Hart.

“I cannot ignore the fact on two occasions, albeit separated by a number of years, you have used a weapon on someone who you wrongly believed had done you or your family harm,” the Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst said as he sectioned Lord under the Mental Health Act.

Judge Ashurst added a restriction that Lord could only be released with the consent of the Ministry for Justice.

He also made a life-long restraining order forbidding Lord from contacting or going anywhere near Mrs Hart and her daughter.

Mr Kealey said Mrs Hart had cuts and bruises to her head and other parts of her body and suffered headaches and other effects for some time afterwards.

Dr Isherwood said Lord’s mental condition improved when he took medication, and he normally took it willingly. But his mother’s death in 2010 led to him not taking it, so he was mentally unwell when he attacked Mrs Hart. He needed very long-term supervision to ensure he continued taking it.