Security urged for pyschiatric hospitals

LONDON, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- A top British mental health official says the government needs to set new security standards for low- and medium-security psychiatric facilities.

Louis Appleby, the country's national director for mental health, told the BBC Tuesday there's no set standard for how secure such hospitals should be. It became an issue after a mentally ill childkiller escaped from a private, low-security hospital and raped a 14-year-old girl at knifepoint in Bristol, England, earlier this year.

"The inquiry will tell us a bit more about what has happened in that particular unit, but meantime we will be looking to see that high risk individuals are not placed there," Appleby said. "There isn't a very good definition of what a low secure unit is for, and what its standards are. I think we now need to set national standards, we can't just allow things to continue to evolve."

The escaped patient, Darren Harkin, 21, was sentenced Monday to be detained indefinitely at Broadmoor Hospital, The Times of London reported.

The Times said at least 116 mentally ill patients escaped in Britain last year.