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Man who went berserk with machete ‘not insane’

A 33-year-old man who went on a wild machete-wielding rampage in Sundsvall in northern Sweden in March was not insane at the time, forensic psychiatrists have determined.

Man who went berserk with machete 'not insane'

The man slashed a woman in the face, left a dog bloodied and hijacked a minivan full of students in the course of his violent outburst.

A week later the man flew into a new rage, going after staff of the psychiatric clinic in which he was being treated.

The outcome of the psychiatric assessment was made public on Friday and it has been determined that the man was not psychotic at the time of the attack.

The 33-year-old was charged at the end of May and if found guilty he can now only be sentenced to imprisonment.

The woman lost an eye in the attack on March 15th, which consisted of several blows from the machete-like knife.

Leaving the woman bleeding profusely, the 33-year-old fled the scene.

Around 90 minutes later, police received a call about a car accident on the E4 motorway near Harmånger, about 60 kilometres south of Sundsvall.

As it turned out, the 33-year-old has crashed his getaway car in the ditch.

But when two minivans filled with a group of high school students stopped to help, the man again went on the offensive, putting the knife against the throat of one of the teachers and forcing students out of one of the minivans.

He then sped off in the minivan, leaving the stunned students on the side of the motorway.

Police eventually caught up to the 33-year-old after he once again drove into the ditch while exiting the motorway near Silja.

However, police were forced to fire a warning shot and shower the man with pepper spray before he gave up.

The 33-year-old was placed under arrest and taken to the police station under suspicion of attempted murder, making illegal threats, robbery, and resisting arrest.

The man is reported to have history of psychological illness and has been in out of clinics over the past decade.

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CELEBRITY

Is Elijah Wood in Sundsvall and what is he doing there?

It is not that Sundsvall is not a nice town. It is just that it is not normally the place where Hollywood stars go for a night out. So rumours that Elijah Wood was visiting the town quickly went viral on Thursday.

Is Elijah Wood in Sundsvall and what is he doing there?
The main shopping street in Sundsvall. And Elijah Wood. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT & Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

The 35-year-old actor of Lord of the Rings fame was reportedly spotted visiting restaurant 'Tuppen' in the central Swedish town, which posted picture evidence on Facebook and Instagram late on Wednesday.

News of the unexpected celebrity visit quickly dominated local news headlines in Sweden, and was picked up by some of the national newspapers too, with growing excitement on social media. Several newspapers even asked readers to call them if they had any more information about the visit.

“Starstruck at Tuppen. Celebrity visit in the shape of Elijah Wood himself from the Lord of the Rings. Thanks for the visit!” wrote the restaurant.

Not everyone was convinced that it actually was the star, however, and some speculated that it could just be a lookalike or a clever PR trick by the restaurant itself to attract more visitors.

“I think it's fake. They had a customer who looked like him and wanted to joke,” wrote one person on their Facebook page. “Is it fake or is he looking for the ring in Sundsvall now?” wrote another.

Wood, who's currently starring in BBC America series Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, visited Stockholm last month to perform at the Södra Teatern venue with his friend Zach Cowie as DJ duo Wooden Wisdom. His film production company SpectreVision, of which he is a co-founder, helped produce Swedish 2013 science fiction movie LFO.

With a population of some 50,000 people, historic sawmill town Sundsvall is the third biggest town in Sweden's northern region Norrland and Sweden's 21st biggest town overall. It is home to one of the campuses of Mid-Sweden University as well as Sweden's first-ever international casino.

Sundsvall's nearby island Alnön was recently voted one of the most beautiful places in Sweden. Restaurant Tuppen is one of a number of restaurants in the town. It opened in May this year and aims to serve locally produced meat and fish.

The reason behind Wood's supposed visit to the town was not immediately known, but it would not be the first time an international celebrity has fallen in love with unexpected places in Sweden.

Last year US-Haitian rapper Wyclef Jean revealed that he wanted to move to Sandviken outside Gävle. British actor Hugh Grant recently bought a house in Torekov, southern Sweden. And rapper Kanye West paid a visit to the rural town of Älmhult to convince its Ikea headquarters to let him design furniture.