A 20-year-old man has gone on trial accused of attacking six members of staff at an NHS hospital in Merseyside with a metal bar, in an incident so violent that the weapon bent out of shape. Omar Momand denies the charges, with prosecutors telling Liverpool Crown Court he went "round on a spree" over roughly half an hour, forcing terrified staff to barricade themselves in a bathroom and the outpatients department at Newton Community Hospital. The case matters because it raises questions about hospital security and the risks faced by NHS staff, as well as how the courts weigh claims of psychotic illness against intent in serious assault cases.

Prosecutors said Momand, who lives locally, was filmed on a neighbour's doorbell camera leaving home before arriving at the hospital, where he was turned away from a GP surgery for not being registered and grew "more and more agitated" before the attacks began around 90 minutes later. He is accused of striking workers including Megan Lynch, Jeanette Jones, Ian McGurk, Eleni Tsikou and Michelle Stewart, causing injuries such as scalp wounds, lacerations and heavy bleeding, in some cases returning to hit victims already on the floor. Momand claims he had drunk orange juice the previous evening that he believed a neighbour had spiked, leaving him confused with no memory of the hospital attack; the prosecution says he accepts causing the injuries but disputes he intended grievous bodily harm.