Hotel break-in woman sent to mental hospital

A German woman discovered by hotel staff barking at her boyfriend and trying to jump out of a window has been committed to a mental hospital.

Magistrates "sectioned" 32-year-old Petra Ziani last Thursday having previously sent her for psychiatric assessment (Caterer, 26 February, page 11).

Ziani and her English boyfriend, Royston Coombes, were arrested for breaking into the Mount Royal Hotel in central London on 8 January. The couple had sneaked into the room in the early hours and gone to bed. Staff heard screaming and arrived at the room to find the same couple that had been ejected from the hotel five days earlier.

Ziani was making barking noises and calling Coombes a dog. She alleged he had tried to kill her before she tried to jump from a window and was dragged back by a policeman.