Monash University killer stabbed hospital employee because he thought she was foreign agent
THE MONASH University shooter stabbed a staff member at the Thomas Embling Hospital because he believed she was thwarting his leave from the secure facility.
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THE MONASH University shooter stabbed a staff member at the Thomas Embling Hospital because he believed she was thwarting his leave from the secure facility.
Huan Yun Xiang, who has been held in the psychiatric hospital since killing two and injuring five others when he opened on classmates in 2002, appeared at the Supreme Court this morning charged stabbing the staff member in October 2015.
“He though he was an agent to thwart his leave,” psychiatrist Yvonne Skinner today told the court
Xiang, who continues to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, believed the staff member was also conspiring with the family of one of the Monash victims and the United States and Chinese governments.
He planned the attack for three years before stabbing her in the neck and hand with a knife from the kitchen of his unit.
“He thought she was acting... on behalf of the Chinese government or the American government,” Dr Skinner said.
Xiang faced the Supreme Court today for a judge-alone trial charged with recklessly causing serious injury to the staff member.
None of the facts in the case are contested.
Prosecutor Kerri Judd QC said Xiang had continued to suffer from delusional thoughts and urged Justice Jane Dixon to find Xiang not guilty because of mental impairment and order he remain in a secure psychiatric treatment centre.
Xiang continues to suffer from hallucinations and kept his delusional thoughts about the victim to himself.
Justice Dixon found Xiang not guilty by reason of mental impairment and ordered he remain at the Thomas Embling Hospital.
“The attack has had a lasting and serious impact on (the victim) and will likely continue to adversely effect her future career,” Justice Dixon said.