Alcoholic pulled out knife at Warwick psychiatric hospital - then asked woman to call police

And at Warwick Crown Court alcoholic Charan Singh Dhinsay was given a community sentence with two years of intensive supervision by the probation service.

Dhinsay, 57, of Hill Street, Warwick, had pleaded guilty to possessing a bladed article in a public place.

Prosecutor Richard Franck said that on January 19 Dhinsay went to the Lloyd’s Pharmacy at St Michael’s psychiatric hospital in Warwick.

He asked the manager if she spoke Punjabi, and when she said she did, he told her that he hated his son and that he had something to show her.

He then took out a knife with a four-inch blade, which the pharmacy manager said was shaped like a kirpan – the ceremonial dagger carried by Sikhs - but she commented that kirpans were not normally as sharp or as menacing as the knife Dhinsay was holding.

He held it out towards her for about ten seconds before putting it away but telling her he was not afraid to use it, even if he had to spend the rest of his life in prison, then asked her: “Do me a favour and call the police.”

He took the knife out again and began waving it around, but had put it away by the time the police arrived and found him in the reception area.

When he was approached by officers he reached towards his jacket, but was warned he would be Tasered if he did not stay still, and he complied.

After he was arrested Dhinsay made a statement in which he said he had come out of the hospital on January 10, but said he had had a falling-out with his wife and was trying to find a place to stay.

Dhinsay, who had a history of psychiatric illness, talked about hearing voices and said he had drunk three cans of alcohol, adding that the offence was at least in part down to the drink.

Judge Richard Griffith-Jones commented: “Drink has made him ill. He needs help, but what has not been addressed is how I can be assured that if he has a community order he continues to take the medication. That is what will keep him on the straight and narrow.”

Martin Groves, defending, said: “He is taking his medication. He has said he knows that if he starts drinking again, that will be it as far as his family is concerned. He is a chronic alcoholic.”

Sentencing Dhinsay, Judge Griffith-Jones told him: “The crime you committed was committed when you were ill; and the culpability therefore for the crime was diminished.

“But the fact that you were ill was your fault because you have it within your capacity to take medication which will keep you well and out of trouble.

“There are a number of things that will happen if you don’t do that: you will lose your relatives, you will lose your health, and you will lose your liberty.

“The supervision order is to be an intensive one because risk management must be uppermost in the officer’s mind. It is vital you understand the need you have to keep control of your health.”