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Preston man accused of stabbing and robbing taxi driver in Buckshaw Village moved to secure mental unit
https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/presto ... it-5305739
Image: Wayne Taylor/Lancashire Evening Post
A man accused of stabbing and robbing a taxi driver near Leyland has been moved to a secure mental hospital while a court decides what to do with him.
Phillip Dookie, 45, appeared before a judge in Preston via a video link from prison on Tuesday for sentence on charges of robbery, wounding and possessing a knife.
But Judge Andrew Jefferies KC adjourned the hearing until December saying he needed more information from doctors about the state of his mental health before reaching a decision.
He told the court that the Home Secretary had ordered the 45-year-old to be transferred to a secure hospital unit this week where he could receive treatment pending sentence.
Dookie, from Preston but of no fixed abode, was arrested after a taxi driver reported being attacked and robbed in Buckshaw Village in February.
Two others – a 37-year-old man and a woman aged 31 – were also apprehended near to the scene of the incident. All three were charged with robbing the victim of £70 and a mobile phone.
Dookie was also charged with Section 18 wounding with intent and possession of a bladed article.
At Tuesday’s hearing Judge Jefferies said he was not going to sentence him immediately until he had further details about his condition.
He revealed Dookie had claimed he had used the knife to protect his girlfriend from the driver.
The cabbie, who Dookie had made serious allegations about, had said his livelihood was now at stake because he was worried about going out to work at night.
Dookie and his co-accused were all charged after the incident in Holland House Way, Buckshaw shortly before 10pm on February 5.
They appeared before Preston Magistrates Court the following day where Dookie was remanded in custody.
Judge Jefferies said he was not comfortable sentencing him after hearing he was said to be suffering from a “treatment resistant form of paranoid schizophrenia”.“
I would like one of the doctors to explain to me what that means,” he told the court.” Addressing Dookie he added: “As you will be aware, independent of the court the prison have made arrangements for you to be transferred to a secure hospital. I am not going to stand in the way of that happening.“
The doctors want to carry out further investigations and make a further report. I have told the lawyers (defence and prosecution) what I am concerned about.
“I don’t know whether an appropriate sentence is a hospital order, a hospital order with restrictions, or prison. So in order to make an informed decision further reports have to be done.“
“We can’t hear the case until December 3, so I have no option to remand you in custody until then.”
He gave permission for Dookie to appear for sentence on December 3 via a video link.