In a rare move prosecutors on Thursday accepted a plea of not guilty because of mental impairment from a Canberra man accused of mowing down a pedestrian and cyclist in his car.
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If a judge agrees that is the appropriate verdict for Ashley Paul Kelly, 34, he will be transferred to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal where he will be dealt with under the territory's mental health laws.
Mr Kelly was arrested and later charged with two counts of attempted murder following the events on Alexandrina Drive in Yarralumla on June 4 last year.
It was before 7am on that date when the cyclist heard a car approaching him from behind and then the horn beep, court documents tendered on an earlier occasion say.
The document describes the cyclist hearing the car's engine rev and it sharply strike the right side of his bicycle before it braked, throwing the cyclist to the ground.
The driver, Mr Kelly, got out of the car and swore at the cyclist before driving away. The cyclist managed to snap a photo of the purple station wagon on his phone before calling police, who soon arrived on the scene.
After police arrived, another cyclist rode past and pointed out the car, saying it had tried to hit him.
The driver ignored police directions to stop, but a short time later the second cyclist returned, screaming that the car had hit someone up ahead.
Officers and paramedics found the pedestrian lying on the cyclepath about a kilometre away.
Paramedics took the cyclist to hospital where he was diagnosed with a fractured spine, the documents said. The pedestrian was treated for a severely fractured jaw, bleeding on the brain and a fractured leg.
Police tracked the Daihatsu Pyzar to Mr Kelly at an address in Ainslie and arrested him.
During an interview, Mr Kelly denied owning the purple car and driving it that morning.
He also said that he had hit the cyclist because he thought he was going to hurt someone, had hit the pedestrian as he believed the "G" was trying to knock "Lucille", a friend of his.
He told police he had never met the pedestrian, and believed he was the devil.
At a callover list in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday, prosecutor Shane Drumgold said his office had agreed to the man's plea of not guilty by reason of mental impairment.
The case had been set down for trial on that plea, but the date was vacated.
The case will return to court on December 3.
A judge will consider if the verdict is appropriate, and if so will order Mr Kelly be detained in custody for review by ACAT under mental health laws.
The judge will also indicate what sentence they would have imposed if Mr Kelly had been found guilty of the offence, which effectively sets a limit to how long he can be detained.
Mr Kelly is currently accommodated in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
