A man charged with attempted murder after an alleged machete attack during Eid prayers at a Bradford mosque was today ruled ‘unfit to plead’ by a judge.

Fezan Hussain, 27, is currently remanded in custody at HMP Leeds but he could be moved to a hospital unit after the Recorder of Bradford, Judge Richard Mansell KC, made his ruling after reading two psychiatric reports on the defendant.

During a hearing at Bradford Crown Court this morning, Hussain, who appeared via a prison video link, was not asked to enter his pleas to charges of attempted murder and possession of a machete in a public place.

Hussain, of Radfield Road, Wyke, Bradford, was charged with those offences and committed to the crown court by magistrates following the incident at the Madni Masjid Islamic Centre on Newton Street on the morning of May 2.

He is alleged to have drawn a machete from the traditional dress he was wearing and to have stabbed a man in his twenties in the chest.

The court heard that the man had fortunately survived, but following the judge’s ruling Hussain will now face a ‘finding of fact’ trial before a jury on October 24.

It is expected that CCTV footage of the attack will be played to the panel who will have to decide if Hussain committed the acts alleged against him.