Alex Ophel charged with attempted murder over ANU baseball bat attack

But the judge, Justice John Burns, told the jury that the law recognised that Ophel, who was then aged 20, could still be a danger to the public, so he ordered the former ANU student be detained in custody for review under mental health laws.

The ANU student had not denied that on the morning of August 25, 2017, he had stood up in his tutorial and began swinging a baseball bat with violent force.

The victims were trapped in the classroom and described to the court a terrifying ordeal in which the tall, teenage basketball player violently swung at them, cracking their skulls and causing brain injuries.

It was said at the time of his trial that he would not be released until doctors believed that he no longer posed a danger.

It was made clear in court that, even after his release, the detained man might well be subject to a psychiatric treatment order requiring he be medicated for his diagnosed schizophrenia.

Before the attack, his mental illness had not been diagnosed.

The jury in 2019 took more than three days to reach its verdict. Jurors found him not guilty by reason of mental impairment on all five counts of attempted murder. There had been no dispute that he had committed the acts. The question was whether his mental state meant that in law he was not formally guilty.

"This was the correct verdict," defence solicitor Jacob Robertson said after court. "This is evident by the fact that the Crown chose not to lead the most relevant evidence in relation to the issue of mental impairment, resulting in the judge being critical of the way that the Crown conducted the trial."

It was the second time Ophel had faced a jury, after a first was unable to reach a decision, centred again around the question of his mental illness.

In the attack, the court heard that one woman suffered two broken arms after raising them to shield herself from the assault.

Witnesses told the court that the frenzied attack only ended when one student grabbed the man in a bear hug and tackled him to the ground.

Court documents described a room in the ANU's Copeland building as a scene of a "prolonged, violent struggle".

There were upturned chairs and papers, and a large amount of blood across the desks, ground and walls.

A man and woman had significant lacerations to their heads and one man lost the tip of his middle finger.

In the months following, a parade of doctors diagnosed the attacker as suffering from schizophrenia (a mental illness involving strong, compelling delusions).

He reported being under the control of aliens and higher beings.

None of the expert witnesses expressed any concern to the court that the accused was exaggerating, malingering or fabricating.

The attacker was then remanded in custody and assessed by the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal under the territory's mental health laws.

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