A patient stabbed a staff member in the face with a piece of wood at Broadmoor Hospital - leaving the victim fearing for his life.

Dennis Sterling, 45, broke a stick off a tree in a communal garden at the hospital.

He then punched a member of staff, before using the wood as an improvised weapon against them.

The man was left with a number of puncture wounds and lacerations to the front and back of his head.

Today (May 17), Reading Crown Court heard that the defendant had expected to be released from Broadmoor when he carried out the brutal assault on October 28, 2022.

Prosecuting barrister James Dean said that Sterling attacked the staff member after being told this would be not be possible.

Mr Dean told the court: "He [the victim] says that he feared for his life as a result of this assault."

The staff member was unable to return to work at Broadmoor for several months after the attack.

Sterling pleaded guilty to a charge of wounding with intent.

Summarising the case, Judge Alan Blake said the defendant was "frustrated, angry and irritated" at the time of the attack.

Sterling is a paranoid schizophrenic, sectioned at Broadmoor since 2009.

However, Judge Blake said that Sterling's actions demonstrated a degree of intentionality, and showed that he posed an ongoing, serious risk to the public.

He told the defendant: "You drew close to him, you punched him in the head, and you produced that piece of wood, and began stabbing him in the face.

"He is extremely fortunate that the stick did not make contact with his eye. He nevertheless suffered a nasty cut, as well as an impact from the force of your blows."

The judge stressed that Sterling was already under a hospital order, and that a normal prison environment would be unsuitable for him.

Nevertheless, he said that a "small, token punishment" was appropriate in this case.

Sterling has been ordered to pay a £200 fine to the court.

Broadmoor, located in Crowthorne, is one of Britain's most famous psychiatric hospitals. Among its most notorious former occupants are the late Ronnie Kray and late Peter Sutcliffe.