A man who attempted to rape a woman after punching her companion in the face has been cleared of the crimes he committed because he was mentally impaired.
Psychiatrists believe the man's condition had deteriorated to the point he was unlikely to have known his actions were wrong.
An ACT Supreme Court judge has now ordered the man to submit to a tribunal for the preparation of mental health orders.
The Canberra Times has chosen not to name the man, who is now well medicated, because of his mental health issues.
On Friday afternoon, Justice Michael Elkaim said the accused was charged with attempted rape, sexual assault in the second degree, minor theft and common assault.
The charges related to a series of events on the night of April 29 last year, when a University of Canberra security guard found the man sleeping in a hallway. When the man was woken up and told to leave, he threw water on the security guard.
Less than an hour later, another security guard found the man in the driver's seat of her car. She called police, but the man took off on foot before they arrived with a pair of her boots and a jacket.
About 10.30pm that night, the man walked up behind two women who were heading for the Belconnen Hungry Jack's. He grabbed one and punched her in the face before pushing the other woman to the ground and pulling her pants down. While holding the second woman down, the man undid his belt and loosened his own pants, and punched the first woman in the face again.
Justice Elkaim did not explain how the women eventually got away, but said the accused was wearing the female security guard's boots when he was arrested.
Though the man eventually admitted to the acts, he pleaded not guilty to all charges by reason of mental impairment.
Prosecutors indicated on Thursday that they would accept special verdicts of not guilty for this reason, and Justice Elkaim formally entered the verdicts on Friday afternoon.
In explaining his decision, the judge set out the opinions of three psychiatrists.
Dr John Kasinathan believed the man "held a paranoid delusion and was experiencing auditory hallucinations at the material time which likely contributed to the offending and likely impaired his ability to exercise appropriate judgment or make calm, rational decisions".
"Due to the severity of his psychosis at the material time, it was likely that he was unable to appreciate the nature and quality of his conduct," Dr Kasinathan said.
Professor David Greenberg said the accused's conduct stemmed from a schizophrenic disorder that had left him with a "grossly disorganised thought process and disinhibited mental state".
"I am of the opinion that on balance, [the man] likely did not know that his conduct was wrong," he said.
The third psychiatrist, Dr Richard Furst, found that the man had been "acutely psychotic" and probably unable to control himself because of "his poorly controlled schizophrenic illness".
In light of the experts' opinions, Justice Elkaim said he had "little difficulty" in concluding that the man had been mentally impaired.
Following the verdicts, the judge had to decide if he should have the man detained for immediate review or direct the man to submit himself to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for mental health orders.
Justice Elkaim chose the latter, noting that experts believed the man had responded well to medication and demonstrated "markedly improved psychiatric symptoms".
The man had also "done extremely well while on bail" and "never missed an appointment" with ACT Corrective Services.
"I did express a concern that having regard to the nature of the offences, the approach I took might be seen as [the man] avoiding punishment for his actions," Justice Elkaim said.
"I was reminded, however, of the wide powers available to the ACAT and also the fundamental finding that [the man] was not guilty, albeit by reason of mental impairment."
