Dangerous man held in hospital

A CRIMINAL described as "Bristol's most dangerous man" has been ordered to stay locked up in Broadmoor indefinitely.

Desmond Irving, pictured, held a massage parlour worker hostage while armed with a knife and a hammer, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Arrested and sent to Bristol Prison, he bit three officers and punched a fourth. He then attacked a worker at the Fromeside secure mental health unit in Fishponds before being transferred to Broadmoor Secure Hospital.

Simon Burns, prosecuting, said Irving arrived at the Ambassador massage parlour in Bedminster in March 2010 and forced his way in, refusing to leave.

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Mr Burns said: "Staff were terrified. He pushed one into a shower cubicle, having grabbed her by the neck. He locked the door and disabled the security camera."

Police arrived shortly after Irving had pushed the staff member and slapped her head.

Mr Burns said: "The defendant was incapacitated with CS spray, handcuffed and taken to the police station. He was carrying a large kitchen knife and a claw hammer."

Mr Burns said that, while at HMP Bristol, Irving punched prison officer Robert Souch, bit prison officers Anthony Edwards and Andrew House and was only subdued when a thumb was jammed up his nostril. Prison Officer Jonathan Mathers also had his finger bitten by Irving, who caused major soft tissue damage by "chomping and chewing on it," the court was told.

In the Fromeside Clinic he attacked ward manager Matthew Jennings, Mr Burns said.

Irving's 69 previous convictions include assaults on police, causing grievous bodily harm, robbery and possessing knives and an axe.

He pleaded guilty to false imprisonment at the massage parlour, wounding, two common assaults and three charges of actual bodily harm relating to the attacks on prison and hospital staff in January and December last year.

Ignatius Hughes, defending, said two doctors agreed his client suffered from a mental disorder in which he heard commanding voices and had paranoid delusion and mood disorder.

Imposing a restricted Hospital Order, which will see Irving detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act, Judge Carol Hagen told him: "It is quite apparent that at the time of these offences you were acutely psychotic."

She commended the work of Acting Detective Sergeant Stephen Baines, the police officer in charge of the case, and police constables Joanna Wood and Emma Arthurs.

Mr Baines told the Post: "He was probably Bristol's most dangerous man at the time (of the massage parlour incident). The two police officers put the needs of the victim and the public first."