Anas Alzein, 18, sliced off part of his victim’s ear as he knelt in prayer at the Doha Mosque in Bradford

Anas Alzein, 18, sliced off part of his victim’s ear as he knelt in prayer at the Doha Mosque in Bradford on March 27 last year.

After admitting a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, Alzein was given a hospital order, with Judge David Hatton QC stating his offending was “clearly entirely attributable” to a severe mental disorder.

Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp told Bradford Crown Court that Alzein, who was born in Syria, had come to the UK and Bradford in 2015 after living in war-torn Iraq.

He said that the defendant was subjected to racist abuse and bullying in his new community, leading to his using cannabis and carrying a knife.

In 2016, Alzein was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and stating he was being possessed by “djinns”, a form of demon or supernatural creature.

Mr Sharp said that by March 2017, Alzein was attending the Doha Mosque, where he developed a belief that regular worshipper Mohammed Al-Sadoon, 31, was “the devil or the anti-christ.”

On March 21, the defendant attacked Mr Al-Sadoon during prayers, grabbing him from behind by the neck and shouting in Arabic “I want to kill you.”

Mr Sharp said: “Mr Al-Sadoon had already noticed the defendant behaving very strangely at the mosque and realised he had mental health issues, and so decided not to report this assault to the police, although he did say to one of the mosque leaders that the defendant was dangerous and should be excluded. It seems this warning was not acted on.”

The court heard that on March 27, Alzein attacked his victim again, standing behind him as he preyed before striking him to the side of his neck with the knife, repeating the words “I want to kill you.”

Mr Al-Sadoon lost part of his right ear lobe in the assault, and also a wound to his left wrist.

Other worshippers intervened and managed to drag Alzein off his victim before the police were called.

Mr Sharp said: “During the attack, the defendant was shouting “I have to kill him”, and “anti-christ”. After, while being restrained, he was heard to ask “Did I do wrong?”

When Alzein, of Ayton Close, Bradford, was later shown CCTV footage of the attack, he said he was “happy, because I have done what I had to do.”

When interviewed by a doctor, he said he had attacked Mr Al-Sadoon because “he was the devil and he has to be finished.”

Alzein was remanded in youth detention accommodation but was quickly transferred by the Secretary of State to a mental health facility, where he was noted to be “floridly psychotic.”

It took more than a year for his condition to be stabilised sufficiently for him to enter a plea, and he eventually did so on April 25.

Geraldine Kelly, mitigating, said Alzein had been based at a medical facility since December last year, and now showed “genuine remorse” for his actions.

She said: “He still isn’t well, but he is responding to treatment. The offence is attributable almost entirely to his mental disorder.”

In response, Judge Hatton said: “That would appear to be the case. He is still very poorly. This all points to a hospital order.”

Describing the attack, the judge said: “This was a vicious and pre-meditated assault. The injuries could readily have been, although happily were not, fatal.”

He added: “The defendant has had a very unhappy background. It is clear that at the time of the offence he was floridly psychotic. It is equally clear that he continues to suffer from a major mental disorder, namely paranoid schizophrenia.”

Judge Hatton said he was satisfied that the “most suitable disposal” of the case was an order under the Mental Health Act.

After the sentencing, Sajad Chaudhury, of Chaudhury Solicitors, said on behalf of Alzein: “He wants to make it clear that the attack was not motivated by hatred of Muslims, mosques, or the victim who was attacked.

“This was not an Islamophobic attack and nothing is going to take the pain away from the victim subjected to this horrific attack.

“Anas Alzein’s life is a tragedy. From a middle-class upbringing in Syria to ending up in a warzone where he saw some horrific things, to leaving friends and family and arriving in the UK as a refugee.

“His circumstances never got any better. Language and cultural barriers resulted in him being bullied. In the end, as the psychiatrists made clear, the suffering was too much and resulted in him having mental health issues.

“Police and doctors were aware of the issues before this incident and he fully accepted what he had done in every report prepared. He is ashamed of his actions and very remorseful, and he hopes one day to apologise to the victim, who was simply attending mosque to worship.

"Bradford has a history of tolerance, and hopefully people will appreciate that his was not an attack on Islam or mosques. This was an unwell person losing control."