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The man accused of the alleged murder of a young woman in her own bed refuses to take his psyche meds amid claims prison staff are trying to kill him.
Luay Nader Sako, 36, of Roxburgh Park, last year pleaded not guilty to the stabbing murder of Celeste Manno in anticipation of securing an assessment from a forensic psychiatrist that supported an assertion he was not capable of committing the crime due to his poor mental health.
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard Sako insisted on remaining locked away from other inmates in an isolation unit where he refused to take medications at least one expert believes would help him stand trial for murder.
Celeste Manno, 23, was allegedly murdered in her Melbourne home in November 2020
Luay Sako, 35, attended a local police station hours after Ms Manno’s death and was taken to hospital under police guard, and was charged with murder
Celeste Manno had been in the prime of life when she was stabbed to death in her own bed
In May, the court heard two forensic psychiatrists who assessed Sako were at loggerheads about whether he was fit to stand trial.
The decision will now be decided by a jury trial that will span three days in November.
The court heard while Dr Andrew Carroll – on behalf of Sako – argued the alleged killer was too mentally unwell to properly direct his lawyers, Dr Clare McInerney – for the prosecution – believes that prognosis could be cured.
On Friday, Crown prosecutor Patrick Bourke asked Sako be assessed yet again – this time by forensic psychologist Professor James Ogloff.
The court heard prosecutors believed it was in the ‘interest of justice’ to assess whether Sako’s condition had more to do with his behaviour rather than any actual mental illness.
Sako’s barrister Sam Norton, of Stary Norton Halphen, opposed the application and accused the Crown of attempting to ‘second guess’ its own expert.
‘We say there is no basis to do so,’ he said.
But Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth ordered the assessment be done with a view to maintain the fitness trial dates in November.
Should a jury find Sako unfit to stand trial, the court heard Justice Hollingworth held hope he could be moved to Thomas Embling Hospital – for the criminally insane – where he could be forced medications in hope of getting him well enough to stand trial.
Ms Manno was Sako’s team leader at a Serco call centre before he was fired from the role
Heartbroken mum Aggie Di Mauro pictured with her beloved daughter
The court heard Sako had threatened suicide if he were to be moved out of his isolation cell, where he spends up to 23-hours a day in lockdown.
At a hearing in March, the court heard Sako had secured a ‘second opinion’ on his mental capacity after his original assessment didn’t fall his way.
In a 30-page report, Dr Carroll found Sako was not only unfit to stand trial over the alleged murder, but would remain that way for at least the next year.
The court heard the psychiatrist, who examined the fitness of Bourke Street killer James ‘Dimitrious’ Gargasoulas, claimed Sako’s was a ‘complicated situation’.
But Dr McInerney, for prosecutors, believed Sako had a ‘more favourable prognosis’ depending on his treatment
Mr Bourke said Sako’s mental fitness needed to be subject to a thorough investigation before the court.
‘It will be submitting that Mr Sako is in fact fit (to stand trial),’ he said at the time.
Sako allegedly smashed through his former colleague’s window at her family home in Mernda, in Melbourne’s northeast, before repeatedly stabbing her with a knife as she lay in bed in November 2020.
Ms Manno is pictured with her partner, Chris Ridsdale, who had been looking forward to celebrating her birthday the week she was killed
Pictured: The crime scene in Mernda where Ms Manno was found dead
There has been an outpouring of grief for Ms Manno
He then allegedly fled over a fence that was left stained with blood.
Sako attended a local police station hours later and was taken to hospital under police guard and treated for a hand injury that required surgery.
At Sako’s very first court hearing last year, the court heard Sako had no mental health issues and was not on any medication at the time his 23-year old victim was killed.
Sako had been freed to live in the community at the time of the alleged murder after being charged with breaching a restraining order.
Ms Manno was Sako’s team leader at a Serco call centre in South Morang and comforted him when he left the company a year earlier.
Sako’s family was devastated by his arrest and said they didn’t know much about what he had been doing at the time.
He had been unemployed and living at his parent’s house.