Rhyl,North Wales - Man sent to secure facility after carrying axe into city centre bank

Published date: 08 October 2015 | 

Published by: Staff reporter
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A YOUNG Rhyl man who carried an axe into a city centre bank in the hope police would shoot him dead has been locked up in a secure psychiatric facility. 

Ryan Seddon, 23, was sentenced to a 'hospital order with restriction' at Chester Crown Court yesterday in a case that Judge Raj Shetty described as “desperately sad”. 

The judge commended staff at Barclays on St Werburgh Street, Chester, for the way they tried to help Seddon and the “humanity” they showed him.

The order means any movement outside of the Ty Llywelyn unit on the Bryn y Neuadd Hospital site in Llanfairfechan, North Wales, must be approved by the Secretary of State. 

Passing sentence, the judge told Seddon: “I sincerely hope that with the assistance of mental health services you are able to overcome these difficulties and that, ultimately, that will result in your release from hospital.”

Seddon, of Paradise Street in Rhyl, had pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing pointed or bladed weapons in public on October 28. 

The court heard Seddon suffered with a personality disorder that made him behave impulsively and unpredictably. 

Giving evidence, consultant psychiatrist Dr Rajvinder Sambhi said Seddon did not mean to harm people, but could unintentionally put them in serious danger. 

Recommending a restriction order, he said: “The nature of the condition of personality disorder is such that he can be impulsive [with] unpredictable behaviour and that can lead on to consequences that he may not intend at the time.” 

It emerged Seddon had previously attempted to set fire to a car and a bed, made a “fake bomb” to scare his father, threatened a shopkeeper with an airgun and carried a machete and meat cleaver in public. 

He spent about four years in a secure hospital after being convicted of arson and was released in January 2014. 

Upon his release, he secured a part-time job as a “security official” but began experiencing difficulties and presented at an Accident and Emergency unit asking to be sectioned – a request that was refused. 

The court heard that at about 1.50pm on Tuesday, October 28, he walked into Barclays with an axe and a knife under his clothing, wanting to be shot by police as he had been unable to face cutting his own throat. 

Caroline Harris, prosecuting, said two members of staff had sat down with him and talked to him, producing a piece of paper and a pen to help him communicate. 

“He said he was armed but didn't want to harm anyone or receive any money, but wanted the police to come to the bank and kill him,” Miss Harris said. 

“He couldn't kill himself and needed the police to do it.” 

Staff gave him the opportunity to walk away, or hand himself in, but he insisted officers were called to the bank. 

“He was disappointed that the only police to attend had Taser devices,” Miss Harris said. “He intended to walk towards the police with the axe if they didn't shoot him initially.” 

Defending, Peter Barnett urged the judge to consider a less restrictive hospital order, saying Seddon had made progress in recent months while in care. 

But the judge said he had taken a “severe course” for the protection of the public. 

He also praised the bank staff who “acted with admirable humanity and calmness in the face of a very difficult situation”. 

 http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/153496/rhyl-man-sent-to-secure-facility-after-carrying-axe-into-city-centre-bank.aspx