Antony Duguid has been remanded to a Melbourne psychiatric hospital after being found not guilty of the murder of Bendigo newsagent Garry Angus by reason of mental impairment.
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He will return to court on December 10 once a treatment plan has been compiled to manage his condition.
Prosecutor Peter Rose SC said Mr Angus’ family will be submitting victim impact statements to the court by that date. It is expected Duguid will spend several years being treated for psychosis and schizophrenia at the Thomas Embling Hospital in Fairfield.
Duguid will be placed under the supervision of the Victorian Institute of Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) which will be in charge of his assessment, treatment and management as an inpatient at Thomas Embling Hospital.
While the facility is run as a hospital, it has extensive security and mostly houses men and women from the criminal justice system.
According to the Forensicare website, Thomas Embling Hospital is a 116-bed secure forensic mental health hospital “purpose designed and built to provide advanced clinical treatment and programs”.
“Most patients are from the criminal justice system, either transferred from the prison system or ordered by the courts to be detained for psychiatric assessment and/or care and treatment,” the website reads.
It is understood many of these inpatients are people who have pleaded not guilty to crimes by way of mental impairment.
Patients are required to apply through the courts to be released, with the legal process taking into account improvements to the person’s mental health.
Patients stay an average of eight to 10 years at the hospital, depending on their individual situation, and are released back into the community gradually, often on a non-custodial supervisory order.
