Court told man who stabbed Outlander actor in Edinburgh had delusional beliefs he was part of paedophile ring

Jonathan Wilson stabbed Tam Dean Burn on the neck with a knife as he left a poetry venue in Edinburgh
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A star of the Amazon hit TV series Outlander was the victim of a murder bid by a man who held delusional beliefs that Scottish actors were part of a paedophile ring, a court heard.

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A judge was told that Wilson (43) who is currently a patient at a high security psychiatric hospital, was hearing voices and receiving telepathic messages.

Tam Dean Burn was stabbed on the neck with a knife as he left a poetry venue in EdinburghTam Dean Burn was stabbed on the neck with a knife as he left a poetry venue in Edinburgh
Tam Dean Burn was stabbed on the neck with a knife as he left a poetry venue in Edinburgh

Acting consultant psychiatrist Dr Rachael Sibbett said Wilson had a fixation on Mr Burn but added: "He believes other people are involved, specifically other Scottish actors."

The High Court in Edinburgh heard that the paranoid schizophrenic, who has a variety of psychotic symptoms, believed he was given a job to out a paedophile ring.

He received messages from different people in what he described as a special or secret society.

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Dr Sibbett (34) said there was "an ongoing risk" posed by Wilson and that it was proper that he was currently detained in conditions of special security at the State Hospital in Carstairs.

Lord Burns ruled after hearing evidence in the absence of Wilson that he had launched a murder bid on the River City actor on March 2 this year by grabbing hold of him and stabbing him on the neck with a knife at Crichton's Close.

Following an examination of facts Lord Burns said: "I am satisfied on that evidence that this was a genuine attempt to murder Mr Burn."

He also upheld a special defence lodged on behalf of Wilson that he was unable, because of a mental disorder, to appreciate the nature and wrongfulness of his conduct at the time of the incident and acquitted him.

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Lord Burns made an interim compulsion order holding Wilson at the State Hospital ahead of a further hearing in February next year.

Mr Burn (61) was attacked as he left the Scottish Poetry Library, where he had given a reading, to make his way to Hibs ground.

He told the court: "I noticed the person that ended up stabbing me. I recognised him, but I didn't know where from."

He said: "I just felt someone getting a hold of me and a bit of a thud."

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"I didn't realise I had been stabbed until I looked round. I saw him and I saw the blade being pulled back out again," he told the court.

"He was saying I was a kiddie fiddler. I think he said 'he deserves to die'," he said.

He was taken to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary for treatment. The actor told the court that the injury has healed but left him with a scar. He said: "They told me it was three centimetres deep."

Mr Burn said he later realised that he had met his attacker in 1995 and added: "He wanted to be an actor. We were doing a play at the Edinburgh Festival that year."

Police who arrived to detain Wilson found he had an axe and three knives and he told them he stabbed Mr Burn and was planning to chop him up.