A MAN who killed one highways worker and injured another when he drove dangerously through road works stark naked is to be detained indefinitely in a secure psychiatric unit.

Driver Sorin Laszlo, who a judge was told suffers from paranoid schizophrenia and persecutory delusions, has been made subject to a hospital order under the Mental Health Act.

He had denied causing the death of 22-year-old Dudley man Blaine Rock by dangerous driving and causing serious injury to Paul Currie - and a jury at Warwick Crown Court last month found him ‘not guilty by reason of insanity.’

And after hearing from a psychiatrist who has assessed Laszlo, Judge Anthony Potter made him subject to a hospital order.

He also imposed a restriction order which means Laszlo, aged 42, of Grove Road, Nuneaton, cannot be discharged without the approval of the Secretary of State.

Judge Potter told Laszlo: “I make it plain the order I have imposed today is not a punishment, but an order made for your own well-being as well as for the protection of the public.”

Prosecutor Matthew Barnes had said: “On Friday the 14th of September 2018, at just after 10.30am, a horrific road traffic collision occurred when a car driven by this defendant struck two wholly innocent and unsuspecting road workers, killing one and seriously injuring the other.”

Blaine Rock was just 22 when he was tragically killed while he was working alongside his father Harry and their workmate Mr Currie on a road surfacing crew.

His injuries included a serious neck fracture from which he died, while Mr Currie’s injuries left him in hospital for three months, during which he was in a coma for the first few weeks.

The two men were working on a section of the B4112 Ansley Road at Stockingford, Nuneaton, in a coned-off area on what would be the off-side of the road for traffic heading out of Nuneaton.

Cars were waiting at a red light at the road works when Laszlo drove past them in the middle of the road in a Peugeot 308.

“The defendant simply appears to have ignored not only the red light, but the queue of traffic, and simply overtook the queue of stationary vehicles, not braking or reducing his speed.

“Having gone past the queue, having gone past the red traffic light, it ploughed straight ahead, entering the cordoned-off area of the road works, crashing through the cones.”

He could have steered back onto the correct side of the road – but instead he ploughed into Mr Rock and Mr Currie.

“They were both standing drilling the road surface, and they may well have had their backs to the oncoming Peugeot. They were certainly wearing ear protectors because of the noise of the drilling, and it seems likely they were unaware of the danger.

The two men were carried on the car’s bonnet for about 400 metres, and it was only when Laszlo failed to negotiate a bend and crashed into a lamppost that they came off.

The car ended up in a hedge, and Laszlo, whose clothes were later found in the car, got out ‘completely naked’ and ran off, but was caught by ‘brave and stunned members of the public.’

Since his arrest Laszlo, who tested negative for drink or drugs, has been detained at the Tamarind Centre mental health unit in Birmingham where he as been undergoing treatment.

And following an adjournment, Dr Ramneesh Puri confirmed that Laszlo was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, and was ‘unable to distinguish between reality and a fantasy world.’

He said Laszlo was ‘doing very well’ under treatment, but there was ‘a potential risk of serious harm were there to be a relapse’ - and a restriction order would allow for ongoing supervision.

Judge Potter observed that Mr Currie and the Rock family, who had all attended the trial, were aware of the hearing, but did not want to be present.

And imposing the hospital order, he told Laszlo: “I have read the victim impact statements which set out in stark and very moving terms the impact in particular Blaine Rock’s death has had on his family, and the impact on Mr Currie.

“The tragic fact is that there is nothing you or anyone can do or undo to lessen the impact your driving had on the health of Paul Currie and upon the lives of Blaine Rock’s family.

“For reasons no-one could immediately comprehend, you drove past a stationary line of traffic on Ansley Road where Paul Currie and Blaine Rock were carrying out work on the carriageway.

“You collided with Mr Rock and Mr Currie, and you then continued to a bend in the road where you drove off the road into a lamppost.

“You suffered at the time from paranoid schizophrenia and persecutory delusions that people were trying to kill your brother and that you had to kill yourself to save him. You present a risk of serious harm to the public.”