A MAN who pepper sprayed his step-sister following an argument is to receive medical treatment at a secure unit.

John Mullen was described by a consultant psychiatrist as suffering from a personality disorder and “emotionally unstable”.

Teesside Crown Court heard how the 26-year-old rowed with his live-in carer and went outside his home where he began throwing stones.

He then went back inside and produced a can of pepper spray, which he bought from the internet, and began spraying it about.

The effect of the spray caused his step-sister, who was present during the argument, to pass out. Mullen, of Green Street, Consett, County Durham, was arrested and told police that voices in his head told him to do it.

He had previously been convicted of spraying a noxious substance on a bus full of passengers and was jailed for 20 months.

Mullen admitted offences of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possessing a prohibited weapon and affray on June 6 this year.

He had been remanded in custody since his arrest. Mullen pleaded guilty to the charges on the basis that he did not directly spray his sister and was not be seeking any kind of retribution, said his barrister Charles Rich.

Recorder Peter Armstrong said Mullen’s personality disorder made him appropriate for detention in a hospital for treatment.

The judge passed what he called a hospital hybrid order lasting 18 months and said Mullen would be treated at a clinic in Newcastle.