A man who abducted a prostitute at knifepoint on the orders of his imaginary twin brother has been detained at the state hospital without limit of time.
The High Court in Glasgow heard Phillip Andrew – who was jailed for 10 years in 1997 for the attempted murder of a sex worker – carried out the assault and abduction at his flat in Aberdeen.
He was accused of locking the door of the flat, refusing to allow the woman to leave, repeatedly screaming at her, threatening to cut her throat and throw her out of a window and holding a knife at her throat.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Robert Gibb told the court Andrew suffered from hallucinations and had an imaginary twin brother Victor who spoke to him and he “acts on his instructions”.
The court also heard the assault on October 31, 2015 took place after Andrew, a paranoid schizophrenic, stopped taking his medication and began drinking.
Dr Gibb agreed with advocate depute Mark McGuire, prosecuting, that Andrew was a danger to both himself and the public.
Andrew tendered a not guilty plea to the charges against him because of his mental health and judge Lord Boyd ordered him to be detained at the state hospital.
Following his attempted murder conviction Andrew was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and sent to the state hospital.
In 2012 he was released into the community and at the time of the offence he was being monitored by a community psychiatric nurse
His counsel, advocate Neil Shand, told the court: “Mr Andrew was not working, did not have regular contact with his family.
“He began drinking alcohol and stopped taking his medication. His mental health deteriorated and that led to this incident.”
Lord Boyd told Andrew: “I’m satisfied on the basis of reports and the evidence of Dr Gibb and shall make a compulsion and restriction order.”
