A knife attacker charged with attempted murder has been found not guilty on account of his insanity.

In Supreme Court yesterday Lorenzo Prince Robinson, 24, of no fixed abode, was read the unanimous verdict after only 33 minutes of deliberation.

Robinson was accused of attempting to murder American visitor Scott Jable, robbing a pocket knife from Knick Knack and stealing a gold ring from Dominik Wong on October 28, 2002.

Mr. Jable was window-shopping with his wife and baby on Front Street when he was stabbed by Robinson, a man he had never seen before in his life.

The only witness in the two-day trial, Dr. Frank Kelly, an honorary senior lecturer at the Royal College of Psychiatrists and Clinical Director at Charing Cross Hospital in London, agreed it had been some 20 years since a case of this type had been seen in Bermuda, but in the last case, the defendant was sent to the UK.

Dr. Kelly also agreed that Robinson was not criminally responsible.

He said that, at the time of the crime, Robinson was suffering from a mental disease, could not control his own actions and did not know that he ought not to stab Mr. Jable.

Dr. Kelly acted as spokesman for four psychiatrists, two of whom had records on Robinson dating back several years.

He told the seven-man, five-woman jury that all four psychiatrists agreed Robinson was a paranoid schizophrenic which was ?a mental illness characterised by differences in thinking and feeling perceptions and a loss of contact with reality?. He said the illness can be fatal and always gets worse. It begins in early adulthood.

He said paranoid schizophrenics suffer from delusions and hallucinations. When they see a real object they make delusional connections with that real object.

?If you or I see a red van, we think it is a red van. If they see a red van, he thinks he is the Antichrist,? Dr. Kelly said.

He said they hear voices and often think they have been touched when no one is in the room.

Dr. Kelly spent more than three hours with Robinson who told him he had been delusional since he was 18.

?He believes he has immense supernatural powers that allow him to exert forces on the world. He believes he can create tidal waves and make volcanoes explode. In addition, is the idea that people can read his thoughts and that his thoughts can be broadcast to others.

?Two years ago he created his own religion called ?neterlam?. For the last several years he would describe chanting an incantation and cleansing himself with water, and repeatedly placed his head in a bowl of water.?

Ten days before his release, Robinson said he felt a ?twitch? ? possibly a side effect of the drug Haldol ? but he thought ?(terrorist Osama) bin Laden was trying to contact him in a metaphysical way and he knew he ?needed to do something?.?

Dr. Kelly said that on October 28, prison officers told Robinson he was going to be moved and he ?was filled with a great fear?. He then conducted rituals and chants.

In the van he overheard an officer saying ?they need a good man on Front Street?. He took this to mean that they knew what he was thinking. Dr. Kelly said this in itself showed that Robinson was psychotic ? having delusions and hallucinations ? immediately before the crime.

Robinson stole the ring because Freemasonry was an important part of his delusions. Then he left the shop and had the idea that bin Laden wanted him to do something.

?Bin Laden did not command me to kill someone, bin Laden left it up to me what to do,? Robinson said.

?Suddenly it came to him,? Dr. Kelly said. He had seen a white American tourist walking with his wife and child. (Mr. Jable) laughed and that meant to Robinson that Mr. Jable knew what was going to happen. Dr. Kelly said Robinson heard derogatory voices that said Robinson was homosexual. Then he stabbed him.

Dr. Kelly said Robinson could be ?treatable? with the drug Clozapine, which treats schizophrenia, but would not be given adequate care in a prison.

He said Robinson?s ?underlying level of intelligence was quite high?.

Crown counsel Juan Wolffe asked Dr. Kelly whether Robinson was still homicidal and he said it was possible. He said that he still remained dangerous and has had homicidal tendencies prior to 2002.

Dr. Kelly said Robinson needed a ?good level of security to ensure he does not escape? but that segregating him in a locked cell would be ?detrimental to his health?.

Instead, he suggested that Robinson would benefit most from a ?forensic psychiatric unit?. He said in the UK units had different levels of security.

?At the highest end are special hospitals with high security like Broadmoor. They are at the same level that prisons have. A step down from there, there is medium security. They are still very secure and have a condition of security similar to prisons. In low level security facilities they are still not allowed to get out, but it is possible that they may be allowed escorted leave ,? Dr. Kelly said.

Puisne Judge Ian Kawaley called the case unusual. Because the law always assumes that a defendant is sane, the defence is required to prove ?on the balance of probabilities, or more likely than not? that he was legally insane.

He said it was up to the jury to decide whether or not to accept the testimony of Dr. Kelly and the written record of local psychiatrist Dr. Paul Harlow that was read to them on Tuesday.

Mr. Justice Kawaley ordered under Robinson be kept under ?strict custody? in Westgate until ?the pleasure of the Governor was known?. The Governor will form an Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

This Committee will decide which secure psychiatric hospital Robinson should be placed in. They will also decide whether or not he can ever be released.

After Robinson was found not guilty on account of insanity, QC John Goldberg said Dr. Kelly wanted to treat his client at his London unit because he was an ?interesting and rare case?.