Portsmouth paranoid schizophrenic with knife attacks 'old bully' from school after spotting him in street
A PARANOID schizophrenic man with a knife who had not taken his medication attacked an ‘old bully’ from school he saw in the street.
James Stokes, 35, flew into a rage after spotting his old nemesis in a park on April 12 before following him to his address and attacking him ‘out of nowhere’ despite the pair having not ‘seen each other for years’.
Stokes was caught with a knife by police on Purbrook Road, Fratton, before being arrested.
Portsmouth Crown Court heard how troubled Stokes, of St Marys Road, Kingston, decided to exact revenge on his old foe after it was claimed he was ‘forced to take morphine’ by the man in their school days.
‘The man wasn’t nice to him (Stokes) and this arises out of that. He was a bit of a bully to him years ago,’ a probation officer told the court.
‘There’s a past history that he’s revisited at an unfortunate time and he’s gone round there.
‘Mr Stokes said he was not taking his medication at the time and had appeared to have disengaged with the community mental health team.’
Rob Harding, defending, applied for an adjournment to the case so a psychiatric report could be carried out.
Judge William Ashworth agreed to the request before questioning Stokes. ‘Are you taking your medication?’ he asked.
‘I have missed a couple of days but I always catch up,’ Stokes replied.
The judge fired back: ‘You have to take your medication.’
Judge Ashworth added: ‘A psychiatrist will prepare a report on you. I need to know the risk of you and if you will go off the rails.’
Stokes responded: ‘I feel I understand my situation much better. I know how to approach things in a way not so confusing.’
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Stokes, who admitted assault by beating and possessing a knife, was granted unconditional bail with the case adjourned until January 21.