Omar Momand held his head in his hands and appeared to be in tears as a court was shown CCTV footage of the moment he attacked staff at Newton Community Hospital with a metal bar. The 20-year-old was said to have "hunted down" and struck no fewer than six members of staff with such force that the weapon used during the incident was left bent out of shape.
Some NHS workers were forced to barricade themselves inside a bathroom and the outpatients department after being repeatedly hit over the head with the blunt object as the armed assailant "attacked everyone in sight". Momand later claimed that his neighbour had spiked him with poisoned orange juice in the aftermath of the incident, having reportedly been "in the grip of an acute episode of psychotic illness" at the time.
Trial hears staff accounts
Momand is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of a string of serious assaults. Jurors were today (Tuesday, September 15) read a series of statements from staff at the hospital, with a pharmacy assistant, who had held her role at the onsite chemists for 18 years, having described hearing a woman screaming at around midday on the day in question.
This employee, Donna Fenton, said in her account: "I've never heard anyone scream like that in real life before. I just knew there was something that wasn't right." Ms Fenton and her colleagues then entered the foyer to find the area "deserted", noticing two smashed computer screens and "smashed glass everywhere on the floor". She then reported that a male emerged from beyond a set of doors and told them "I'll show you what's going on" before lifting his right arm and brandishing what she believed was a cosh.
This man was then said to have "begun sprinting towards them", with Ms Fenton having attempted to flee as a result. She recalled in her statement: "Before I had taken my first step, he struck me on the right upper hip with the cosh. I was praying the male wouldn't catch me. If I even tripped, I would have been done for."
CCTV shows series of attacks
The jury was also played a series of CCTV clips showing Momand entering the hospital wearing black clothing and pulling down his hood before wandering around the site. Having exited and re-entered the premises several times over the following 90 minutes, as well as speaking to some members of staff and spending large periods of time seated in waiting areas, he was then shown approaching one victim, Megan Lynch, from behind while she used a vending machine.
Having been in a "somewhat agitated" state and been seen holding his hands to his head, the footage captured him pulling an object from his trousers before striking her to the head several times using the item before she was able to escape. Momand was subsequently shown attacking another complainant, Jeanette Jones, on a set of stairs before causing damage at the reception desk.
Having gone on to chase three female members of staff, who were able to keep him at bay after successfully closing a door behind themselves, he was seen making his way upstairs before returning to the ground floor and aiming blows at three further workers, Ian McGurk, Eleni Tsikou, and Michelle Stewart. The video finally showed Momand striking Ms Fenton and chasing her out of the building, with footage from a police officer's body worn camera then showing him being PAVA sprayed before ultimately surrendering himself when another PC approached him with a police dog.
Prosecution case
Jamie Baxter, appearing for the crown, previously told a jury of eight men and four women during the prosecution's opening yesterday afternoon, Monday: "On the morning of the 30th of December 2025, a lone armed man walked into Newton Community Hospital in Newton-le-Willows. That man was the defendant."
"Over the best part of half an hour, once the incident began, he attacked no fewer than five separate people, nurses, hospital staff and members of the public. He struck several of them about the head and body with a metal bar that he carried into the building concealed in his waist and, in some cases, returned to hurt some of the people after they had already been injured, lying on the floor."
"He accepts that he caused the injuries to each of the people. The single question that you are here to decide is whether, when he did what he did, he intended to cause those people grievous bodily harm."
"The prosecution suggest that deliberately striking multiple people in succession, quite literally hunting them down, can only lead to that sensible and straightforward conclusion. When he did what he did, he intended the consequences of his actions."
"You will hear evidence that the defendant was, at the time, mentally unwell. That is to say, he was in the grip of an acute episode of some psychotic illness. He has been assessed by two psychiatrists in that regard."
"What divides the two psychiatrists is a much narrower question, whether his illness deprived him of the capacity to form an intention to cause grievous bodily harm or whether he had that capacity to form that intention, even if delusional. Even if his intention was impacted by his mental health, a delusional intention is still an intent."
Prior to "going round on a spree" and "attacking literally everyone in sight", Momand was captured leaving his home address at nearby Collingwood Court on a neighbour's Ring doorbell camera at around 10.30am before arriving at the hospital two minutes later. CCTV footage inside the hospital then showed him sitting in a ground floor waiting area before walking upstairs to a GP surgery and asking for an appointment, although he was instead advised to attend a walk-in centre as he was not registered with the practice.
Momand, who wore a black shirt and jeans in the dock and sported short dark hair, then returned downstairs and remained on the premises for a further 90 minutes before commencing his "brutal attacks" at 12.01pm, having been "getting more and more agitated as time went on". Mr Baxter told the court: "He approached one of the victims, Megan Lynch, from behind as she stood at a vending machine."
"As he approached her from behind, he produced a metal bar from his waist and, as she was facing the vending machine, repeatedly struck her about the head with it when she did not see anything coming. Fortunately, in shock, she managed to get away and run and lock herself in a bathroom."
Ms Lynch suffered two wounds to her scalp, which were closed with sutures, as a result of the attack, as well as bruising to her head, shoulder and hand. Momand then turned his attention to receptionist Ms Jones, who attempted to flee up a flight of stairs but was stuck to the head, elbow and back with the bar.
Mr Baxter added: "She managed, just about, to reach the outpatients department, where she barricaded herself inside. She was left with swelling to her head and bruising. Notwithstanding the blows that he struck on her, he did not break any bones and did not cause any lacerations."
Momand began smashing up the reception desk and computer equipment with the metal bar before chasing other members of staff, who were ultimately able to "escape behind a locked door". He subsequently returned upstairs and attempted to force his way through the doors of another locked room while apparently "literally looking for anybody to attack".
Three other workers, Mr McGurk, Ms Tsikou, and Ms Stewart, meanwhile arrived back at the hospital from their lunch breaks unaware of the unfolding incident, walking inside to find the reception area "quite deserted" before Momand also began assaulting them. This saw Mr McGurk sustain lacerations to his eyebrow and ear after being struck with the weapon, with Ms Tsikoua left "heavily bleeding" from a cut to the back of her head.
Momand later "returned his attention" to Ms Jones by hitting her twice more with the weapon before going on to strike Ms Stewart from behind. Having fallen to the ground as a result of this blow, she was then struck a further five to six times to the head while lying on the floor, suffering a "significant head injury" as a result.
With Momand having hit a sixth victim, pharmacy assistant Ms Fenton, on the leg with the weapon, he was then confronted by a member of the public who entered the hospital armed with a golf club, having received a phone call from his partner, who worked at the hospital, alerting him to the attack. The incident persisted over the course of around 20 minutes in total, with PCs who attended the scene having used PAVA spray on the culprit to no effect before he was ultimately detained with the assistance of a police dog.
The metal bar used during the assaults was said to have "bent when he was striking people with it and smashing up the hospital", with the item having had a cord attached to one end to seemingly "secure his grip" and had the words "ball stick" handwritten on the side. Momand later told a psychiatrist that the object was "something he used to play ball games with".
Having remained in a psychiatric hospital over the following months, the defendant was only ultimately interviewed in March this year, at which stage he claimed in a prepared statement that he had "drank orange juice which he believed had been poisoned by a neighbour" the previous evening. He described having "felt confused" afterwards and said that he had "no memory of what happened at the hospital", having "believed he may have been spiked".
Mr Baxter concluded by telling the court: "There is no doubt that he did have mental heath issues at the time and there was an onset of them. The prosecution suggest, very candidly, that he is using that now as an excuse for his actions, a convenient excuse to say to you, 'I can't remember what happened'.
"This was deliberate and intentional. He knew what he was doing when he struck those blows. The question for you is, what did he intend? That is where the experts disagree, on that narrower question."
"When Mr Momand deliberately raised that metal bar and brought it down on someone's head or body or back multiple times, what did he think he was doing? What was he doing when he was literally raining blows down on people with a metal bar?"
Momand, who is represented by Sarah Griffin, denies four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and one of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. The trial, before Recorder Gavin McBride, continues.
