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09/09/2008
Investigation Reveals 116 Secure Hospital Escapes Last Year
Over 100 patients escaped from secure psychiatric hospitals in England and Wales last year, a media investigation has revealed.
At least 116 patients absconded from medium and low security specialist centres, or escaped from escort staff, according to the BBC.
It is believed four patients currently remain at large.
The shocking figures prove even more startling when compared with the five prison escapes recorded in the same year.
The number of escapes from hospitals amounted to 23 times more than from prisons.
Sir David Ramsbotham, the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, described the latest figures as "horrifying".
"It is a horrifying figure of course, but it's not one that surprises me because the medium and low secure units in the NHS do not have same degree of security a prison does," Sir David told BBC Radio 4.
"The wake-up call is actually to the Government to build more facilities inside prisons because the public will know that those prisoners who have been sentenced for a crime and have mental health problems are being properly looked after inside what is essentially a secure place," he added.
National Director for Mental Health in England, Professor Louis Appleby, has called for a "mature debate" about the level of care mentally ill people received.
The BBC investigation comes amid the brutal attack of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, who was raped by psychiatric unit escapee Darren Harkin.
The 21-year-old had been allowed to amass a collection of pornographic and horror themed films during his detention.
Harkin had been sent to the low-security Hayes Hospital, near Bristol, for violently stabbing his six-month-old step-brother to death in his cot, when he was 12.
This week, Reading Crown Court heard how Harkin escaped from the facility, and viciously raped a 14-year-old girl.
The court ordered Harkin be subjected to a hospital order, under the Mental Health Act, and detained indefinitely at maximum security Broadmoor Hospital.
(PR/JM)
At least 116 patients absconded from medium and low security specialist centres, or escaped from escort staff, according to the BBC.
It is believed four patients currently remain at large.
The shocking figures prove even more startling when compared with the five prison escapes recorded in the same year.
The number of escapes from hospitals amounted to 23 times more than from prisons.
Sir David Ramsbotham, the former Chief Inspector of Prisons, described the latest figures as "horrifying".
"It is a horrifying figure of course, but it's not one that surprises me because the medium and low secure units in the NHS do not have same degree of security a prison does," Sir David told BBC Radio 4.
"The wake-up call is actually to the Government to build more facilities inside prisons because the public will know that those prisoners who have been sentenced for a crime and have mental health problems are being properly looked after inside what is essentially a secure place," he added.
National Director for Mental Health in England, Professor Louis Appleby, has called for a "mature debate" about the level of care mentally ill people received.
The BBC investigation comes amid the brutal attack of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, who was raped by psychiatric unit escapee Darren Harkin.
The 21-year-old had been allowed to amass a collection of pornographic and horror themed films during his detention.
Harkin had been sent to the low-security Hayes Hospital, near Bristol, for violently stabbing his six-month-old step-brother to death in his cot, when he was 12.
This week, Reading Crown Court heard how Harkin escaped from the facility, and viciously raped a 14-year-old girl.
The court ordered Harkin be subjected to a hospital order, under the Mental Health Act, and detained indefinitely at maximum security Broadmoor Hospital.
(PR/JM)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A chilly start with a widespread frost and some freezing fog, any freezing fog slow to clear. Otherwise bright with sunny spells and coastal showers. Light winds. Maximum temperature 6 °C.Tonight:Coastal showers dying out with a widespread frost developing along with freezing fog, which could become extensive. Winds remaining light. Minimum temperature -3 °C.
