DAVID William Clarke was paranoid, "hearing voices" and "desperately seeking" treatment for his mental illness when he got off a train at Morisset and purchased a large knife.
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Clarke, 47, approached a 75-year-old woman outside Morisset Square shopping centre, telling her "come here" and then "don't move" before holding a knife to her back, triggering a tense siege that only ended when Clarke was repeatedly shot with a taser by police.
Clarke appeared for sentence in Newcastle Local Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to a number of serious offences, including armed with intent to commit an indictable offence, use offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention and affray.
Defence solicitor Matthew Unwin told Magistrate Sharron Crews that Clarke was on a train and on his way to The Mater Hospital to seek voluntary admission on November 23 last year when his paranoia became so intense he got off the train, walked to the shopping centre and bought the knife.
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"This is in the context of a man on a train to The Mater Hospital to present himself again," Mr Unwin said.
"He had presented a number of times before but had been refused the assistance he was desperately seeking.
"He was not turning a blind-eye to the fact that he was in need of mental health assistance. "He had reached out, but they had failed to assist him.
"He was that paranoid that he got off the train at Morisset, that's how unwell he was. "And from there the offence occurred."
The elderly woman later told police she was too scared to get away from Clarke.
She began mouthing the words "help me" to passing shoppers and tried to slowly move away, but Clarke tightened his grip on her and held the knife to her kidney area.
It wasn’t until a passing police officer saw the distressed 75-year-old woman and asked “do you know this man?” that the terrifying situation became clear.
The police officer repeatedly yelled for Clarke to put the knife down, however he replied “f--- off”.
The officer drew her firearm, and for four minutes negotiated with him to release the elderly woman.
Clarke eventually complied, but refused to drop the knife.
More police arrived and when Clarke wouldn’t drop the knife, they shot him with a Taser stun gun, but Clarke still maintained control of the weapon.
It wasn’t until he was shot again inside the shopping centre complex that the knife was able to be secured and Clarke was arrested.
Mr Unwin submitted that, due to his mental health issues, Clarke could be adequately punished with time served and imposing an intensive corrections order, a form of custodial sentence served in the community.
But Ms Crews disagreed, saying Clarke's mental health issues were "muddied" due to drug use and the offences were "very serious" and occurred in a public place against an elderly and vulnerable victim.
“These offences involve a female victim, 75 years of age, who was just at the Morisset shops to do her shopping,” Ms Crews said.
“You called her over and she saw this very large knife in your hand.
“You talk about hearing voices and that you had sought help and there were no drugs involved on this day.
“But information has come from The Mater Hospital that you weren’t admitted around this time – three days prior to the offence – because they formed the view that illicit drugs were involved.”
Mr Unwin had successfully negotiated with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) for the offences to remain before the local court, meaning the maximum penalties Clarke faced were much less severe.
Ms Crews jailed Clarke for a maximum of 22 months, with a non-parole period of 11 months, meaning he will be eligible for parole before the end of the month.
