A man who stabbed a paramedic to death in an unprovoked attack is due to learn whether he will be granted a special verdict of not guilty on mental health grounds.
Jordan James Fineanganofo admitted stabbing 29-year-old paramedic Steven Tougher 55 times outside Campbelltown McDonald's, in south-west Sydney, in the early hours of April 14, 2023.
The 23-year-old pleaded not guilty to murder by way of mental health impairment earlier in the week, with Justice David Davies expected to deliver a decision today over whether the elements of the defence were made out.
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The court was told prosecutors agreed to a special verdict being appropriate for Fineanganofo, who claimed to have been hearing voices in the lead-up to the attack.
Forensic psychiatrist Kerri Eagle, who was engaged by the prosecution, found Fineanganofo was suffering from a psychotic illness at the time, consistent with a relapse of schizophrenia.
Eagle found in favour of the special verdict on the grounds Fineanganofo was aware enough to know what he was doing, but could not properly reason that it was wrong due to his mental state at the time.
Crown prosecutor Ken McKay SC told the court on Monday, Fineanganofo had no interaction with Tougher before the chilling attack which lasted close to four minutes.
Tougher tried to push Fineanganofo away but was unable to, saying, "What are you doing? Stop stabbing me, mate", the prosecutor said.
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Despite the efforts of several people to help, Fineanganofo continued to stab Tougher, walking away several times before returning to inflict more wounds on the NSW Ambulance worker as he lay on the ground.
Following his arrest, Fineanganofo reported hearing auditory hallucinations in the form of various voices and his own voice telling him to kill himself and others.
He claimed the voices had increased in intensity over the past month and on that day, he had been unable to cope with them, prompting him to attack a random member of the community.
Fineanganofo also pleaded not guilty on mental health grounds to a string of related charges over alleged incidents in nearby suburbs in the days before killing Tougher.
Those incidents included intimidating a woman who was pushing a stroller with a five-month-old child, threatening several men at a service station and swinging a knife at a man during a roadside incident, piercing his jacket but not his skin.
