Psychotic Man Hears METALLICA Members' Voices In His Head Before Slashing Woman's Throat; Found Not Guilty
July 22, 2020, 4 years ago
According to ABC News, a psychotic man was driven to slash the throat of a cleaner at an Adelaide shopping centre after hearing voices he believed to be the lead singer and drummer of heavy metal band Metallica, a court has heard.
Supreme Court Justice Sam Doyle today found 27-year-old Jai Penning not guilty of attempted murder of a 30-year-old woman due to mental incompetence.
Mr Penning was suffering from psychosis due to his treatment-resistant schizophrenia at the time of the attack at the Parabanks Shopping Centre, at Salisbury, in July 2018.
The court was told Mr Penning had cocaine, ecstasy and amphetamines in his system, and while "self-induced intoxication" exacerbated his psychosis, they were not a substantial cause of his conduct.
Justice Doyle said his long-standing hallucinations included hearing voices which he believed came from "members of heavy metal band Metallica, particularly the lead singer James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and also from the devil".
Read more at ABC News.
(Photo - Facebook: Jai Penning)