WA:Naked gunman 'stressed' by detention

AAP General News (Australia)
08-26-2010
WA:Naked gunman 'stressed' by detention

PERTH, Aug 26 AAP - A naked man who sent downtown Perth into lockdown after climbing
to the top of a billboard holding a replica gun, has post-traumatic stress after years
in detention, says his lawyer.

In Perth Magistrates Court on Thursday, Sayeed Mehman, 38, pleaded guilty to being
armed in public in a way that caused fear.

On July 17, Mehman climbed atop a large billboard in in the Perth CBD, stripped naked
and paraded up and down with a replica handgun.

Police locked down the area, closing a section of Wellington Street while deploying
Tactical Response Group officers.

Commuter trains were also halted until negotiators persuaded Mehman to drop the replica
handgun and come down.

In court on Thursday, Mehman's lawyer said he was an Australian citizen who had never
been convicted of an offence.

She said he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after spending four years in an
immigration detention centre.

The mental illness he suffered did not pose a danger to society, she said.

Mehman's bail was extended and he will be sentenced on October 7 when the magistrate
will consider new psychiatric reports on his mental state.

AAP anr/ldj/it/was

KEYWORD: MEHMAN

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