A Forfar man who killed his girlfriend after fearing she was poisoning him has been detained at a high-security hospital indefinitely.
Catherine Sandeman was knifed almost 50 times by Lee Hopsdal, who later told psychiatrists he feared his 40-year-old drug addict girlfriend had been poisoning him on the instructions of the Taliban.
Unemployed Hopsdal, 33, previously admitted a charge of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Edinburgh High Court in March.
He was originally charged with murder following the discovery of Ms Sandeman’s body on November 1 last year in the flat they had shared together at Forfar’s Glenmoy Terrace.
Lord Boyd of Duncansby said he was satisfied that Hopsdal would present a serious threat of harm to himself and others if released into the community.
He said: “Nothing I can say can alleviate the pain and suffering that has been caused by the death of Catherine Sandeman through your acts of violence.
“It is, however, clear to me you are suffering from a mental illness, namely paranoid schizophrenia, as well as a personality disorder.
“I shall order you be detained at the State Hospital at Carstairs without limit of time.”
The judge imposed a compulsion order and a restriction order on Hopsdal whose case would have to be referred to Scottish ministers before he can be released.