Teen who attacked gurdwara given hospital order

A teenager who launched an attack at a gurdwara in Kent has been detained in hospital.

The 17-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was held by police after the disturbance inside the Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Gravesend on 11 July.

Two women were also assaulted outside the building and police recovered a bladed weapon.

The boy was handed a hospital order at his sentencing at Westminster Magistrates Court.

The court heard how security guards found the teenager in a prayer room.

He then picked up an ornamental miniature sword and arrow, known as a kirpan and teer to Sikhs, and threatened to kill the guards as they tried to detain him.

Prosecutor Alan Balneaves told the court how the boy, who was “clearly a young man in distress”, then went out onto the street where he swung the sword at two women who were entering the temple.

The judge found that the defendant had made two threats to kill whilst possessing two bladed articles.

The boy was also found to have threatened someone with a bladed article, and was also sentenced for affray and causing actual bodily harm.

Nobody was seriously injured during the attack, but two women needed medical attention for cuts and bruises, Kent Police previously said.

Officers also said the incident was "not terrorism-related", but was initially being treated as "religiously aggravated".

Addressing the defendant via video link, Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring said: “Technically I don't set the length to the hospital order.

“You will be kept in hospital until the doctors believe you are well enough to be released.”

Hospital orders can be reviewed and extended every six months and then annually.

Those who have been given a hospital order can appeal the decision in court or at a Mental Health Tribunal or by making a request to hospital managers.

The religious artefacts used in the attack will now be repaired before being returned to the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara.

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