A SCHIZOPHRENIC has been ordered to be detained in a hospital indefinitely after he indecently assaulted a nurse.

John Thompson locked the woman in his home and demanded sex, then attacked her when she refused.

Teesside Crown Court heard that the 27-year-old, of Hartlepool, launched the attack on the psychiatric nurse in February last year.

He locked the door of his home and told his victim to go upstairs because he wanted to have sex with her, after she visited him at his home.

Thompson grabbed the woman and tried to kiss her, but she broke free and ran into the kitchen where she tried to break a window in order to escape.

David Brooke, prosecuting, said the nurse of 18 years was pursued by Thompson, so she ran into the living room and tried to get out of a window.

She fell on her back on the ground and the defendant pounced on her and pulled off her coat before touching her.

Mr Brooke said: "She was screaming and was absolutely terrified."

In a statement to the court, the woman said: "He managed to loosen my belt and trousers. I was even more frightened. I was horrified. I believe he intended to rape me."

The victim told her attacker she could not breathe and he got off her before giving her a cup of water, which she used to try to smash a window to escape.

Eventually, Thompson agreed to let her go and she drove straight to a hospital.

The court heard the defendant, formerly of Moore Parade, Hartlepool, heard voices in his head and believed there were invisible women in his house who demanded sex.

Mr Brooke said Thompson had been declared unfit to stand trial, but a jury yesterday decided he had committed the acts of indecent assault and false imprisonment.

The evidence was not contested by his defence.