A nursing student who hit a cyclist with a car before attacking a paramedic and police officer is being dealt with under a provision of law that allows a special verdict - in which the charges are proven but the offender is not held criminally responsible.
Abdulgafar Ayansina hit the 23-year-old female cyclist on Heaton Street at Jesmond in December 2020, with the Subaru Forester dragging her along the road before Ayansina stopped the vehicle.
The woman was taken to John Hunter Hospital with critical injuries.
He later assaulted a female paramedic and tried to bite a male senior constable.
In Newcastle District Court on Monday, Judge Peter Whitford, SC, granted a special verdict for mental health reasons, based on the opinions of two psychiatrists who said Ayansina was in the developing stages of a paranoid mental illness at the time of the offence and he did not understand that his actions were wrong.
Both defence and the Crown agreed that a special verdict should be applied.
"I am persuaded by the evidence before the court that the orders appropriate are those agreed by the parties," Judge Whitford said.
Ayansina is on conditional release and a report is being prepared for the court weighing up whether his continued freedom is likely to put himself or the community in danger.
