Psychiatric tests for Dodd stalker

Psychiatric tests for Dodd stalker

Tagg (right) is the subject of an interim hospital order

A woman who was so obsessed by Ken Dodd that she set fire to his house and harassed his lover must undergo further psychiatric tests, a judge has ordered.

Ruth Tagg, 34, of Bedminster, Bristol, sent letters, cards and indecent photographs to the comedian between July 2001 and May 2002, which were opened by his long-term partner Anne Jones.

She also sent a dead rat and T-shirts bearing offensive messages to Ms Jones, whom Tagg saw as a rival for Mr Dodd's affection.

In October 2001, she pushed burning rags through the letterbox of the comic's Liverpool home, causing £11,000 damage. Nobody was in the house at the time.

'Public interest'

Mr Justice Morland made her the subject of an interim hospital order, in which she will be held at a secure hospital while doctors assess whether long-term psychiatric treatment would benefit her.

The judge, sitting at Carlisle Crown Court, told her: "You clearly need to be assessed by a psychiatrist to see whether you would benefit from some form of long-term treatment and help.

"It is clearly in the public interest that the assessment takes place at an appropriate place."

He ordered Tagg to be assessed at Llanarth Court hospital near Cardiff.

Tagg pleaded guilty in March to arson and harassment of Ms Jones, and will be sentenced at Winchester Crown Court on 4 July.