A schizophrenic man who stabbed four people on Auckland’s North Shore thought he was trying to hasten the end of a spiritual war between Jesus, Satan and himself.

The 41-year-old, whose identity is suppressed, was found not guilty by reason of insanity at the Auckland District Court this morning.

He told police after his arrest that Jesus had rejected him, and he heard the devil’s voice telling him to attack people.

The court heard he had a long history of mental illness and had been admitted into psychiatric care 13 times since 2002.

Two forensic psychologists found he was suffering a schizophrenic relapse at the time, with serious delusions, hallucinations, catatonia and depression.

Judge Pippa Sinclair said he was nevertheless aware he stabbed four people and hurt them, but his delusions provided moral justification of his actions.

“I conclude that given the severity of delusion he was experiencing, he was incapable of understanding the moral wrongfulness of his actions when he stabbed the people,” she said.

The psychologists’ reports

The incident rocked the normally quiet Murrays Bay and Mairangi Bay suburbs in Auckland on June 23 last year.

Armed with a large kitchen knife, the man went from one house to another and on the streets, stabbing four victims before passersby took him down in what police have called a show of extreme bravery.

He attacked two others who escaped unharmed.

He was charged with four counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two charges of assault with a knife.

Judge Sinclair pronounced him fit to stand trial in December last year, and he entered pleas of not guilty by reason of insanity through his lawyer Hannah Johnson at the same court hearing.

All of the victims suffered moderate injuries, authorities said at the time.

“There were members of the public that acted in extreme bravery, they apprehended the offender and brought this incident to its conclusion,” Waitematā district commander Superintendent Naila Hassan told media after a man was taken into custody.

She said it was an isolated incident and not a hate crime.

The man remains in remand at the Mason Clinic where he underwent treatment for psychosis.

- Qiuyi Tan, Open Justice