Man accused of battering six members of hospital staff so ferociously with metal bar that it bent claimed neighbour spiked his orange juice

A man claimed his neighbour spiked him with poisoned orange juice before he battered hospital staff and members of the public with a metal bar, a court has heard.Omar Momand was said to have ‘hunted down’ and struck six workers with such force that the weapon used during the incident was left bent out of shape.NHS workers at Newton Community Hospital, Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, were forced to barricade themselves inside a bathroom and the outpatients department, Liverpool Crown Court was told.Momand, 20, was said to have been ‘in the grip of an acute episode of psychotic illness’ at the time of the alleged attack on the morning of December 30 last year.His trial began yesterday for a string of serious assaults, which he denies.Jamie Baxter, prosecuting, claimed Momand went ‘round on a spree’, ‘attacking literally everyone in sight’.He told jurors: ‘Over the best part of half an hour, he attacked nurses, hospital staff and members of the public.‘He struck several of them about the head and body with a metal bar that he carried into the building concealed in his waist and, in some cases, returned to hurt some of the people after they had already been injured, lying on the floor. Omar Momand, who is accused of attacking six members of hospital staff with metal bar‘He accepts that he caused the injuries to each of the people. The single question that you are here to decide is whether, when he did what he did, he intended to cause those people grievous bodily harm.’Momand later claimed in a prepared statement that he had ‘drank orange juice which he believed had been poisoned by a neighbour’ the previous evening.He described having ‘felt confused’ afterwards and said that he had ‘no memory of what happened at the hospital’, having ‘believed he may have been spiked’.The court heard Momand, who lives in the town, was captured leaving his home on a neighbour's Ring doorbell camera at around 10.30am before arriving at the hospital two minutes later.CCTV footage inside the hospital then showed him sitting in a ground floor waiting area before walking upstairs to a GP surgery housed in the building and asking for an appointment, the court was told.Jurors heard he was turned away with advice to attend a walk-in centre as he was not registered with the practice – but instead went downstairs and stayed on the premises, becoming ‘more and more agitated’ before starting his ‘brutal attacks’ around 90 minutes later.Mr Baxter said he attacked one worker, Megan Lynch, from behind as she stood at a vending machine.The prosecutor said: ‘He produced a metal bar from his waist and repeatedly struck her about the head with it when she did not see anything coming. Police at Newton Community Hospital in the aftermath of the alleged attack by Momand ‘Fortunately, in shock, she managed to get away and run and lock herself in a bathroom.’Ms Lynch suffered two wounds to her scalp, bruising to her head, shoulder and hand, jurors heard.Receptionist Jeanette Jones attempted to flee up a flight of stairs but was stuck to the head, elbow and back, it is claimed.Mr Baxter added: ‘She managed, just about, to reach the outpatients department, where she barricaded herself inside. She was left with swelling to her head and bruising.Momand then allegedly began smashing up the reception desk and computer equipment before chasing other members of staff, who managed to ‘escape behind a locked door’.He subsequently returned upstairs and attempted to force his way through the doors of another locked room while ‘literally looking for anybody to attack’, it is claimed.Hospital staff Ian McGurk, Eleni Tsikou, and Michelle Stewart arrived back from their lunch breaks unaware of the unfolding incident when Momand allegedly set upon them.Mr Baxter said Mr McGurk sustain lacerations to his eyebrow and ear, and Ms Tsikoua had "heavily bleeding" from a cut to the back of her head.He then ‘returned’ to Ms Jones, hitting her twice more with the weapon before going on to strike Ms Stewart from behind.Having fallen to the ground, she was struck a further five to six times to the head, suffering a ‘significant head injury’, Mr Baxter said.Momand hit a sixth victim, a pharmacy assistant, on the leg with the weapon but was then confronted by a member of the public who entered the hospital armed with a golf club after being alerted by his partner, jurors heard.Mr Baxter said the incident was brought to an end ‘with the assistance of a police dog’ after officers had been called to the scene.The metal bar Momand used was said to have ‘bent when he was striking people with it and smashing up the hospital’, the court heard.Mr Baxter told jurors: ‘This was deliberate and intentional. He knew what he was doing when he struck those blows.’The prosecutor added: ‘Even if his intention was impacted by his mental health, a delusional intention is still an intent.’Momand denies four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.The trial continues.