Mentally ill man tried to kill PC in Basingstoke, court hears

PC James Langmead was injured in Churchill Way in Basingstoke on 12 April 2020

A man accused of the attempted murder of a police officer is mentally ill and was in an "acute state of paranoia" during the attack, a court has heard.

Thomas Gracey, 45, used two knives to stab PC James Langmead in Churchill Way, Basingstoke, on 12 April 2020, Winchester Crown Court was told.

PC Langmead suffered head, neck and hand injuries but has since recovered.

Mr Gracey was ruled unfit to plead, meaning Judge Susan Evans QC will preside over a trial of the facts.

Judge Evans said she made the ruling after hearing evidence about Mr Gracey, a patient at Littlemore Mental Health Centre in Oxford, from two psychiatrists.

Mr Gracey believed the coronavirus pandemic was a communist plot to take over the world at the time of the attack, the court heard.

Prosecutor Tom Wright said mental health workers and doctors had sought to talk to Mr Gracey in his flat after his parents raised concerns about his state of mind.

'Saved by stab vest'

But they had to return the following day with police officers after he failed to answer the door, Mr Wright added.

The court heard PC Langmead was alone outside Mr Gracey's flat and trying to get him to open his front door when he was attacked.

Body worn footage shown to the jury showed the officer screaming in pain, with one of the knives used in the stabbing snapped at its handle.

PC Langmead was "almost certainly saved" by the stab vest that he was wearing at the time, Mr Wright said.

Mr Gracey also connected a wire from an electricity supply to his front door handle to ensure anyone who opened it was shocked, the court was told.

The trial continues.