A man with a history of violence and chronic schizophrenia put his fiancée in a choke hold and threatened to kill her for no reason, a court heard. Jason Raymond O'Reilly, 41, was staying with his aunt and his fiancée who escaped his clutches and ran for safety.
During a hearing at Truro Crown Court today (Friday, December 20), Ramsay Quaife, prosecuting, said that on that day on January 11 last year, O'Reilly had come back from the pub when he grabbed his partner and started strangling her, became aggressive and abusive and threatened to kill her and another person in Beacon Hill Mews, Bodmin.
His victim managed to free herself and escaped to a neighbour's house where she called the police. Officers from Devon and Cornwall Police attended the property and O'Reilly was arrested and taken to a police station.
In a victim statement read out in court, O'Reilly's victim said that following the incident last year she was scared for her life and now hopes O'Reilly will receive the psychiatric help he needs for his own safety and that of others.
O'Reilly, who has 40 convictions for 84 offences including 17 involving violence against another persons, is currently in a psychiatric hospital having spent many months in prison. Addressing the court, he read out a letter saying that while he admits he has a long history of violence, he said he was being judged too severely because of his past history. He said: "I found out my problems and I'm addressing them. I attend church regularly.
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"I've been in prison for months and in my opinion I never meant to scare or hurt anyone. I'm saddened it has happened especially for the people I love. I worry I won't get to see my son for a long time. I haven't been in trouble in prison or hospital. I pray I will not have my life taken away from me. I deeply regret my previous history but I'm a different person now and I stay away from trouble."
His defence barrister told the court O'Reilly, originally of Chandos Road, Willsden Green, London, but now staying in a psychiatric hospital, does not feel that he needs the regimen in place at the hospital where he currently resides.
His Honour Judge Simon Carr said O'Reilly had pleaded guilty to serious offences of assault including strangulation which he said were committed at a time when O'Reilly was really ill mentally.
He said all psychiatric reports he has read about him concurred that the best place for him is a psychiatric hospital where he can receive the help he needs.
Judge Carr ordered a Section 37 and Section 41 order meaning that O'Reilly must continue to stay in hospital until the order is reviewed by a court as a way to protect the public from further harm. A Section 37 order is a hospital order, which is issued when two doctors have told the court that someone has a mental disorder and needs to be in hospital. A section 41 order also requires the Secretary of State for Justice's consent before the patient can be discharged from hospital.
A restraining order for 10 years was also imposed on O'Reilly barring him from making contact with his ex fiancée again or go to two addresses in London and another address in Bodmin.
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