Woman bit and beat friend after hospital escape
BBCA mentally unwell woman who viciously attacked a friend after absconding from a hospital has been detained indefinitely for treatment.
Shauna Gallagher, 32, repeatedly punched the man and bit his lip, leaving him with a catalogue of injuries at his Gateshead home, Newcastle Crown Court heard.
She was initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder but admitted wounding with intent.
Gallagher, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a personality disorder, was sentenced to hospital detention and can only be released when medical professionals believe it is safe.
Gallagher was being detained at a hospital under the mental health act when she messaged her friend on 20 April last year to ask if she could go to his house, prosecutor Nick Lane said.
She told him she wanted to "abscond" and he agreed to see her, with the pair going on to drink alcohol and take cocaine together, the court heard.
Staggered into street
The man could not recall everything that happened but remembered lying on the floor while Gallagher rained punches on his face and bit his lip, the court heard.
The following morning Gallagher, whose address was given as a mental health unit in Newcastle and is now at a hospital in Middlesbrough, apologised and said she would call an ambulance for him before she left, Mr Lane said.
With no ambulance arriving, the man staggered into the street where a member of the public helped him and called emergency services.
Medical experts believed he may have been struck with items including a bottle, while his injuries included a broken nose, cuts and extensive bruising and swelling to his head and body, the court heard.
In a statement read to the court, the man said he had been "scared" during the assault and had not appreciated how serious his injuries were.
In mitigation, the court heard Gallagher could not remember the attack but was "shocked and upset" by her actions.
Gallagher's psychiatrist told the court she had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and a personality disorder, so recommended she be detained at a secure mental health hospital for ongoing treatment.
Recorder Samuel Rippon agreed with the recommendation and said Gallagher would not be eligible for release until a mental health tribunal decided it was "safe to do so".