Man brutally beat fellow hospital patient 'to within an inch of his life'

A man brutally beat a fellow hospital patient in a mental health clinic "to within an inch of his life", a court has heard. James Griffiths' victim was so badly beaten to the face his own sister struggled to recognise him in the aftermath of the assault.

Swansea Crown Court heard that at the time of the unprovoked attack the defendant was suffering with an acute psychotic illness and was hallucinating and experiencing delusions of being tortured, raped, and injected with hormones. Making the defendant the subject of a hospital order under the Mental Health Act a judge said Griffiths' victim had been in a place where he and his family could have expected he would be safe.

Ian Wright, prosecuting, said on April 2 this year Griffiths was admitted to the Felindre adult mental health ward at Bronllys Hospital near Brecon. He said the defendant had a history of drug misuse and had previously been admitted to the unit due to drug-induced psychotic episodes. The court heard that Griffiths was verbally and physically aggressive to fellow patients and was making homophobic comments, and that he was given anti-psychotic and sleeping medication.

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The prosecutor said at 6.50pm the following day Griffiths was seen with a fellow patient - a 63-year-old man of a "slight build" and with a range of mental and physical health issues including Korsakoff dementia - walking towards the corridor which led their respective bedrooms. A little later Griffiths was seen alone in a communal room trying to wash his boots in a drinking fountain and cleaning the footwear with wipes he had removed from the cleaning cupboard while repeatedly mumbling "p****".

The court heard that at 7pm a member of staff entered the corridor to the bedrooms and found the "very seriously injured" victim laying on the floor covered in blood. The walls and the floor were also covered in blood. The emergency services were called and paramedics determined the injured man had suffered "life-threatening trauma" and found he had a heart rate of 130bpm and a rate of breathing of twice the normal rate. The court heard the attending paramedic later said the injuries were the worst he had seen in his 16 years on the job. The injured man was taken first to Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr where he went into cardiac arrest and had to be given four cycles of CPR before being transferred to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff for specialist and life-saving treatment.

The court heard police arrested a bare-footed Griffiths at the hospital and recovered his blood-soaked boots from the garden where he had discarded them and recovered his blood-stained clothes from behind a sofa in the communal room and his blood-stained socks from inside a rolled-up yoga mat. In interview the 24-year-old denied knowing the injured man and then called him a "d***head". The results of blood-spatter and blood distribution analysis of Griffiths' boots were said to be consist with the bleeding victim having been stamped on. For the latest court reports, sign up to our crime newsletter here.

The court heard that doctors at the university hospital found the injured man had extensive factual fractures, fractured ribs, and a collapsed lung. The prosecutor said such were the extent of the facial injuries the victim's own sister said he was unrecognisable. The court heard the injured man will now have to live in a residential unit where appropriate care can be provided. In an impact statement which was read to the court by the victim's sister she said there had been a permanent decline in her sibling's mental and physical health after the attack and said he had since been deemed to lack capacity. She said her brother wouldn't talk about what happened but would occasionally say "that man stamped on my head".

James Griffiths, formerly of Cwrt y Castell, Builth Wells, Powys, had previously pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. Nicola Powell, for Griffiths, said there had been a significant decline in the defendant's mental health in the weeks before incident, and said the assault happened the day after her client had been transferred to the hospital by police following concerns about his state. She said Griffiths had been experiencing disordered thoughts, hallucinations, and delusions - including persecutory delusions of being tortured, raped and injected with hormones - and said reports concluded he was suffering with an acute psychotic illness. The barrister said it was accepted drug use had exacerbated the defendant's mental health issues and said after a period of treatment Griffiths had accepted responsibility for what he had done and had expressed "disgust" at his actions, though he did not recall the incident itself.

Judge Geraint Walters said there was nothing in the defendant's antecedent record to suggest he was capable of the kind of violence he had subjected his victim to. He said the victim had effectively been a resident at the hospital which was a place where he and his family should have expected he would be safe. The judge told Griffiths what he had done on the day in question "brought a man to within an inch of his life". He said it was clear from the extensive reports he had read on Griffiths that a disposal under the Mental Health Act was appropriate. Griffiths was made the subject of hospital order supported by a restriction order without a limit on time. Giving evidence to the hearing a psychiatrist said Griffiths would likely need treatment in hospital for a period running into years.

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