How 'danger' teens were able to escape mental unit

Fresh details have emerged about how four "dangerous" teenagers escaped from a secure mental health unit — sparking calls for the facility to be permanently shut.

A week-long manhunt was carried out after the patients fled from Royal Bethlem Hospital in Beckenham by removing a window and scaling a six-foot fence. The south London unit was closed following last month’s break-out, pending an independent review.

Hospital bosses have now revealed details of the escape. South London and Maudsley NHS trust chief executive Stuart Bell has told concerned Bromley councillors that the patients took half an hour to remove the window from the wall.

The teenagers then escaped by climbing over the six-foot fence around the grounds. Dave Hearn, the trust’s head of security, told the public protection and safety scrutiny committee that staff were meant to check patients every 15 minutes and that patients were not meant to be in each other’s rooms. It was also revealed there were five staff members looking after seven patients on the ward when the four teenagers escaped.

None of the CCTV cameras covering the grounds picked up any sign of the escapees. Police issued an alert after the four teenagers escaped on February 26. One teenager, aged under 16, returned to the unit shortly after the escape. A 16-year-old was caught in Margate two days later.

A 17-year-old was arrested after returning to the hospital of his own accord, while a fourth escapee, also 17, gave himself in to police. Campaigners who were against the opening of the unit are now calling for its permanent closure.

Rod Reed, an ex-councillor, said: “The number of escapes over many years is totally unacceptable. It shows how hollow assurances were that the management gave to residents about security.”

There have been eight escapes from the unit since it opened in 2004.

A spokesman for the hospital trust said: “Clearly this is an incident that shouldn’t have happened.

“We acknowledge that and take this very seriously. We have suspended the service while an independent investigation is undertaken.”