Supreme Court commits Josiah Smailes to detention for knife attack on rehabilitation worker

A delusional man who unleashed a furious stabbing attack that almost killed his care worker will be detained in a secure mental health facility.

A man with treatment resistant schizophrenia who unleashed a frenzied attack on a rehabilitation worker during a psychotic episode will spend nine years in a secure mental health detention.

Josiah Smailes, 24, was found not guilty of attempted murder for the May 31, 2020 attack on the worker at the Trevor Parry Centre at Noarlunga Hospital due to being mentally incompetent.

Smailes attacked the worker with a knife – repeatedly striking the top of his head, face and arms – when the worker went to his unit with a nurse who was going to administer his medication.

The court heard the victim copped blows to his head, arms and torso, and the plastic handle of the knife used during the altercation shattered from the force.

The worker suffered lacerations to his left forearm, left lower thigh, left chest flank, forehead and top of his scalp. He also suffered knee and hand injuries.

In a victim impact statement previously read to the court, the worker detailed his ongoing suffering including post traumatic stress disorder, trust issues and daily panic attacks.

“I see the worst in people rather than the best like I used to,” the worker said.

“Before the incident, I was happy each and every day to go to work.

“I felt a great sense of achievement by being able to help others better their lives, overcome challenges and improve their independent living skills.”

The attack happened at Noarlunga Hospital. Picture: Dylan Coker

But now, the traumatised victim said he no longer looks forward to going to work at the centre which supports people unable to live in the community due to their mental health.

He said he had shown Smailes “nothing but kindness and support, and even defended him from others who bullied him”.

On Tuesday, Supreme Court Justice Anne Bampton published her reasons for ordering Smailes be detained in a secure mental health facility.

She said she had considered a report from psychiatrist Dr Narayan Nambiar, which confirmed Smailes had chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

The reasons reveal Dr Nambiar had said Smailes “continues to exhibit persistent and chronic bizarre and religious delusions” and that his illness was treatment resistant.

Dr Nambiar said Smailes required prolonged hospitalisation for an adequate trial of medication as well as rehabilitation and psychoeducation to improve his insight “particularly around appreciating the difference between his delusional perceptions of reality and reality himself”.

Dr Nambiar also said Smailes had a poor prognosis and would “continue to experience symptoms for the rest of his life” but was “compliant with treatment in a controlled environment”.

Justice Bampton fixed a limiting term of nine years, which she reduced to seven years, seven months and 10 days due to time already spent in custody.

The setting of a limiting term is equal to a period under mental health detention equivalent to the time a well person would serve.