Tilbury Amazon warehouse: Man given hospital order for attempted murder

Two Amazon employees were injured outside the warehouse in Tilbury

A man who ran over an Amazon warehouse employee has been sentenced to a hospital order for her attempted murder.

Afrax Ahmed, 30, seriously injured the woman during the incident on Windrush Road in Tilbury, Essex, on 12 July.

He held the delusional belief he was being persecuted by Amazon, Basildon Crown Court heard.

Judge Samantha Leigh said: "The risk, if untreated, of violent behaviour will be a risk of serious injury or death."

Ahmed, of Peartree Way, Greenwich, London, drove his Mazda CX-3 into the woman who was standing by her vehicle in the multi-storey car park, causing a severe injury to her shin and a breaking her pelvis.

He then got out of his car and ran to the reception area at the front of the warehouse.

Prosecutors said the defendant was heard to say "I will kill you, I don't care, I've already killed someone in the car park".

'Significant and ongoing treatment'

A second female Amazon worker "tried to speak" with Ahmed but he kicked her in the back when she turned away from him, breaking two of her ribs.

Ahmed was arrested at the scene and the following day, while in custody, he kicked a police medical worker in the thigh.

Psychiatrist Dr Raman Deo told the court the defendant had paranoid schizophrenia, adding: "I don't think this man has ever had the long-term care that he's needed."

He said Ahmed, who had seven previous detentions under the Mental Health Act, had been diagnosed with different conditions in the past.

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The defendant admitted attempted murder, causing actual bodily harm and assaulting an emergency worker, in March.

He also admitted driving without a licence and failing to provide a specimen for analysis.

Judge Leigh said: "This is a defendant that will require significant and ongoing long-term treatment."

In addition to detaining Ahmed under the Mental Health Act, the judge ordered action under Section 41 of the same legislation to restrict his discharge from hospital.