A MECHANIC accused of attempting to murder his fiancée was not responsible for his actions because of drugs he was taking following cosmetic surgery, a judge ruled yesterday.
        Steven Haines, 27, was acquitted at Reading Crown Court on the orders of Mr Justice French, who said: "This is a remarkable case, unparalleled in my experience and in my reading of the law."
        He halted the trial after three days when Dr Paul Dorban, a forensic psychiatrist, said: "At the time of the offence the defendant was suffering from a rare psychosis which dramatically altered his normal capacity for control."
        Mr Anthony King, prosecuting, had told the jury that the "frenzied attack" happened last February at the house Haines shared with Miss Siobhan Hobbs, 24, in Bolwell Close, Twyford, Berks.
        Haines had been acting in a "bizarre" fashion following surgery on a jaw defect, and was taking paracetamol, antibiotics, anti- depressants and steroids.
        On Feb 11, Miss Hobbs found him banging his head against a wall. He attacked her with a knife, a saucepan, a bottle and a brick and threw a microwave oven at her, said Mr King.
        A neighbour, Mr Paul Venning, saw Haines chasing Miss Hobbs out of the house and managed to disarm him until the police arrived. Miss Hobbs had 60 stitches in her face, scalp and neck.
        Dr Dorban said the psychosis was brought on by a normally harmless steroid drug called Dexamethasone which had an "acute and abnormal" effect on Haines for a fortnight. The judge said Mr Venning had "displayed gallantry of a high order" and awarded him £250 from public funds.