A man heard the voices of Bond star Sean Connery and Motorhead singer Lemmy instruct him to attack his 91-year-old mother, a court heard.

Nicholas Ciampoli, who has paranoid schizophrenia, had stopped taking his medication when he launched the violent attack on his mother at her home in Wantage last year.

Prosecutor Matthew Knight told Oxford Crown Court that the now 60-year-old was staying with his mother on February 7.

Having been to collect some belongings from his own property, he was unpacking his suitcases while his mother watched TV in the sitting room downstairs.

He heard voices telling him to harm his mother. Among the voices were those belonging to Sean Connery, the Edinburgh-born actor who starred in six James Bond films including You Only Live Twice, and lead singer of rock band Motorhead, Ian ‘Lemmy’ Kilmister.

Ciampoli went downstairs and approached his mum, shouting that his requests for help with his mental health were not being dealt with.

He landed a ‘hard’ punch to her face, followed by seven to eight other blows.

She retreated to her bathroom, where she hid for around 30 minutes until she went downstairs to find the police had been called.

It was, in fact, her son who called them. He dialled 999 and showed instant remorse.

She was taken to hospital, where doctors found that her cheekbone was fractured in the assault. Her face was heavily bruised.

The court heard two doctors had reviewed Ciampoli’s case and concluded that he should be given a hospital order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, together with a restriction under section 41 of the same law. That means he may only be discharged from a psychiatric unit with the approval of the Secretary of State for Justice.

Jonathan Coode, mitigating, asked the judge to follow the course suggested by the doctors.

“Mr Ciampoli is very, very sorry that this incident occurred,” he said. The defendant was in daily contact with his mother over the telephone and she had recently sent him a 60th birthday card.

Mr Coode said his client was ‘desperately worried’ about the prospect of being sent to prison. While on remand he had to be taken to hospital when his compulsion to drink water to excess left him with a dangerously low level of salt in his body.

Ciampoli, of Sharland Close, Grove, admitted causing grievous bodily harm. Imposing a hospital order, Judge Pringle said: “You yourself realised the awfulness of what you’d done, because it was you who rang the police.”

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

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