A mentally-ill patient with a "fixation" with weapons held the jagged edge of a broken DVD to the throat of a staff member while trying to take a dangerous overdose.
Joshua Keogh, who is diagnosed with multiple personality disorders and has a history of violence, flew into a rage at Merseyside's renowned Ashworth Hospital ward in Maghull where he lives.
The 31-year-old began acting strangely on September 18, last year, on the Arnold Ward and was aimlessly wandering back and forth to his room, worrying staff member Joanne Ashcroft.
The worker had become isolated from her fellow employees, at around 4.30pm, when unwell Keogh asked the victim to open the laundry room, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
As Ms Ashcroft unlocked the room, Keogh put his arm round her neck, throwing her to the ground, while shoving his arm over her face to stop her shouting out.
Next, Mr Stephenson, prosecuting, said, she felt something sharp and immediately thought Keogh would cut her face and eyes, knowing he had used a similar weapon for self-harming and other past attacks.
A nearby patient came to her assistance before employees arrived on the scene and Keogh was restrained.
Another jagged edge of a DVD was found in his pocket and so he was placed in seclusion and later confessed he was planning to use Ms Ashcroft as a shield so he could get access to the medical cupboard to take an overdose.
The victim reported sustaining a whiplash-type injury and suffered shoulder and arm pain, along with scratches to her face and eye.
In one past attack, Keogh had punched, choked, kicked, bit and even wiped an infected wound into the mouth of NHS workers .
In a Victim Personal Statement, Ms Ashcroft said she found the experience "terrifying", she has recurring nightmares and now finds it difficult to go out alone.
Some of her pals, she added, cannot understand her ordeal, and she has lost a number of friendships.
Ms Ashcroft was off sick until December.
"It clearly has had a devastating effect on her," prosecuting barrister Mike Stephenson said.
Since this attack, Keogh has twice assaulted Ashworth staff.
On one occasion, he was taken to Aintree Hospital after an overdose, accompanied by six members of staff while he was handcuffed to one of them.
The 31-year-old still managed to assault four of them after Keogh became upset that he was in hospital.
A month later, he swallowed batteries and was taken to hospital again where he assaulted seven workers.
Dr Panchu Xavier, Keigh's clinician, told Judge Flewitt that the patient still represented a risk to members of the public.
He is diagnosed with emotional unstable personality disorder and social personality disorder.
Keogh, who gets £140 every fortnight, must pay a total of £900 in compensation to those people he has attacked.
He is currently "stable and improving", the medic said, and needed to be treated as a "patient not a prisoner".
His barrister Ian Harris said: "He has asked me to express regret about what he did, and wants me to apologise to Jo Ashcroft.
"He said he will work with the authorities and will remain compliant.
"He's been unwell for some time."
Judge Flewitt said the attack had a "profound effect on Ms Ashcroft physically and psychologically which happened when she was performing a valuable role for the benefit of society...
"She is entitled to the protection of the court.
"She is to be commended for her fortitude she has shown."
The judge ordered Keogh to serve a Hospital Order "of both a nature and degree appropriate for Keogh to remain in hospital for treatment."
