Man who stabbed surgeon 13 times sent to secure facility for 25 years
A delusional man who stabbed a neurosurgeon in a Melbourne hospital foyer, has been sent to a secure treatment facility for 25 years.
Kareem Al-Salami stabbed Dr Michael Wong 13 times when the neurosurgeon arrived for work at Melbourne's Western General Hospital in Footscray, in February 2014.
He allegedly repeatedly stabbed and slashed the doctor in the face, neck, chest, hands, arms, torso, stomach and legs with a 19cm knife, while his victim's body remained unconscious.
Al-Salami was a patient of Dr Wong, who successfully operated on his spine in 2012 after Al-Salami's arrival in Australia as an asylum seeker from Iran in 2010.
But Al-Salami "gradually developed delusional beliefs his operation had gone wrong".
He also believed Dr Wong was involved in a conspiracy against him.
At the time of the Valentine's Day attack, a hospital handyman reportedly ran at Al-Salami with a parking sign to distract him, while staff and patients dragged the doctor's unconscious body to safety.
Dr Wong received life-threatening injuries in the stabbing, and only survived because he was treated quickly, Crown Prosecutor Richard Pirrie said.
Al-Salami was found not guilty of attempted murder by reason of mental impairment.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth on Wednesday sentenced Al-Salami, 49, to a nominal term of 25 years of supervised treatment at Thomas Embling Hospital.
News break – June 22
