The nurse was rushed to A&E following the attack
Caroline Barry and Philip Dewey
19:05, 15 Jan 2026
A mental health nurse was stabbed by one of her patients who has schizophrenia, at a psychiatric care unit, a court heard. The patient had only been at the hospital for three days before he attacked his victim.
The nurse said she has regained her sight but now feels 'fearful' when she is at work and has been left with two scars. Alexander Horton, 34, was a patient at the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend, Wales when he attacked the nurse at around 11:55pm on October 30, 2024.
At a sentencing hearing at Cardiff Crown Court, on Thursday, January 15, the nurse explained that she had been making her nightly checks when the defendant came out of his bedroom to ask her for help. He seemed calm as he spoke to her, reports Wales Online.
When she approached Horton, the nurse was grabbed and placed in a headlock before he started hitting her in the face with a pen. The pen had been sharpened so it could puncture skin.
The nurse told the court how she felt the pen pierce her left eyebrow and knew she was bleeding. The assault lasted about eight seconds before the defendant was restrained by other members of staff.
The nurse was rushed to A&E. She suffered two lacerations to her left eyebrow and one to the side of her left eyebrow. The pen was later recovered which revealed the tube was broken and saturated at the top.
Horton asked for Valium, following his arrest, and said he felt as if the "world was coming to an end" and "trapped". He admitted that he didn't take his medication that day and something inside him "snapped", but he felt "horrible" and regretted the incident.
Horton, of Llanarth Road, Llanarth, Monmouthshire, pleaded guilty to intentional strangulation and a section 18 wounding. The court heard he had no previous convictions.
In a victim personal statement, read to the court the nurse said: "I felt fear each time I entered the ward, not knowing whether he was going to attack me again or if he had another assault planned against me.
"Since the attack I am even more so acutely aware of my surroundings, especially in the presence of male patients in case I could be assaulted in some way again.
"It has left me with two scars, one to my eyebrow and another to my temple. The cuts are healing but I'm conscious the scars are still there.
"People will ask me about the scars and I have to explain what happened and relive the incident and become upset. The incident has become part of my life I am struggling to forget about.
"I'm lucky the pen didn't puncture my eyeball. My sight did come back but it left me feeling shaken up."
In mitigation the court heard Horton had not been involved in any further incidents while in psychiatric care and there was nothing prior to the attack which suggested he was prone to violence.
Judge Paul Hobson said while sentencing: "(The victim) was someone who was simply doing her job, trying to care for and help you. What you did and the injury you caused has had a profound effect upon her."
Horton was made subject to a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.