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Hospital escape man admits rape | Hospital escape man admits rape |
(10 minutes later) | |
A man who escaped from a secure private hospital near Bristol has admitted raping a 14-year-old girl hours after he disappeared. | A man who escaped from a secure private hospital near Bristol has admitted raping a 14-year-old girl hours after he disappeared. |
Darren Harkin, 21, dragged the schoolgirl off the street at knifepoint in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, before raping her in February. | Darren Harkin, 21, dragged the schoolgirl off the street at knifepoint in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, before raping her in February. |
Reading Crown Court heard the mentally-ill patient had been taken by Hayes Hospital staff to watch horror films. | Reading Crown Court heard the mentally-ill patient had been taken by Hayes Hospital staff to watch horror films. |
Harkin, a schizophrenic, was jailed indefinitely. | Harkin, a schizophrenic, was jailed indefinitely. |
Disturbed behaviour | |
The court heard that Harkin, who also suffers from autistic spectrum disorder, was allowed to build a vast collection of horror and pornographic DVDs while being detained. | The court heard that Harkin, who also suffers from autistic spectrum disorder, was allowed to build a vast collection of horror and pornographic DVDs while being detained. |
He was at the low-security Hayes Hospital, in the village of Pilning near Bristol, for repeatedly stabbing his six-month-old stepbrother to death in his cot. | He was at the low-security Hayes Hospital, in the village of Pilning near Bristol, for repeatedly stabbing his six-month-old stepbrother to death in his cot. |
His behaviour became increasingly disturbed and he eventually fled the institution in February. | His behaviour became increasingly disturbed and he eventually fled the institution in February. |
Along with two counts of rape, Harkin admitted charges of escaping from lawful custody and burglary. | |
The Recorder of Cardiff, Nicholas Cooke QC, raised concerns over why Harkin, who had a history of absconding, was moved to a low-security unit. | |
Cut off hand | |
He also questioned why staff waited nearly half an hour before informing police of his escape and why neighbouring police forces were not alerted. | |
Harkin was aged just 12 when, in January 2000, he took a knife from the kitchen at his family home and stabbed his baby stepbrother, David, in the head, chest and spine and then cut off one of his hands. | |
He then calmly walked to the local police station in Bristol where he confessed what he had done. | |
Harkin was given a hospital order after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Bristol Crown Court in April 2001. | |
After that he was detained in several mental health units before being transferred in January 2007 to Hayes, an independent hospital for adults managed by the National Autistic Society. |