Coach passenger, 41, given hospital order after stabbing man on M6 Toll in the West Midlands
Coach passenger was injured by attacker on service travelling through region
A 41-year-old man has been given a hospital order after a coach passenger was stabbed during an incident on the M6 Toll in Staffordshire.
Lee Pountain was charged with wounding with intent and two counts of possession of an offensive weapon in a public place following the incident which happened in the rear of a coach on the southbound carriageway near Cannock on February 15 at about 8.15am.
No pleas will be taken from the defendant and he will be detained in a psychiatric hospital instead.
At Stafford Crown Court on Tuesday (November 10), the matter was heard in Pountain’s absence due to him being too unwell to appear via video link.
Judge Avik Mukherjee granted a request by prosecutor Zach Brettel for a hospital order under section 37 and 41 of the Mental Health Act 1983 for treatment to be continued for Pountain, of Hexham, Northumberland.
The judge also ordered the deprivation of the knife used to injured the male victim whose impact statement was read aloud at the hearing. The victim was taken to hospital for treatment.
The case relates to West Midlands Police responding to reports of a stabbing on the shoulder of the motorway.