A PARANOID schizophrenic gave a chilling warning he was going to kill someone, just hours before he stabbed a disabled man in the throat.

Stephen Heath, aged 61, lost two pints of blood when he was attacked in his home by Emerson Melake, Bolton Crown Court heard yesterday .

Judge Elliot Knopf sectioned Melake, aged 39, formerly of Derby Street, Bolton, under the Mental Health Act after the court heard he was “tormented” by the voices of his dead relatives and considered himself a danger to the public.

Robert Smith, prosecuting, told the court that Melake was ushered out of the Oasis Club in Derby Street at around 9pm on Sunday, May 17, last year after he had become a “nuisance”.

A regular customer of the club then spoke to Melake outside over a cigarette.

Mr Smith said: “While smoking a cigarette the defendant said, ‘I am going to kill someone tonight. I’m not in my right mind’.”

The court then heard how Melake became aggressive and tried to re-enter the club, shouting: “I’m going to bring my people and burn the place.”

Melake then returned around 10 minutes later brandishing a six inch knife with a serrated blade, threatening the club owner Nagin Patel.

Staff in the club barricaded the door with tables. Mr Patel later told police he was “absolutely terrified”.

Neighbours of Stephen Heath, of Faringdon Walk, Bolton, later reported seeing Melake walking away from his house.

They went to see if Mr Heath was okay, as he only has one leg and uses a wheelchair, and found him “bleeding profusely”.

When police arrived they found Mr Heath in his wheelchair at the sink in the kitchen trying to stem the flow of blood from the cut in his neck.

He was taken to hospital and found to have numerous small lacerations on his face and a 4cm long and 2cm deep cut through the artery in his neck, which caused him to lose two pints of blood.

Later that night police found Melake in Parrot Street, Bolton, where he had been attacked by a group of Asian men who had jumped out of a car after one of them was heard to say: “That’s him.”

He smelled strongly of drink and said he had been attacked by men with sticks.

The victim’s blood was later found on his clothing and he was identified by witnesses from the Oasis Club in a video identity parade.

The court heard that Melake, originally from Eritrea, had previous convictions for robbery, arson, assault and possessing an offensive weapon.

He pleaded guilty to affray and actual bodily harm at an earlier hearing.

Lisa Judge, defending, said Melake suffered from “significant mental heath issues”.

He added that three separate consultant psychiatrists had agreed that the best way to deal with him was by a hospital order, rather than prison, as he needed professional care and treatment.

pkeaveny@ theboltonnews.co.uk