Toulouse: Fourth patient to flee psychiatric hospital found in Paris
The 43-year-old man, who is a known rapist, escaped on Friday and was found on Saturday in the ninth arrondissement in the capital city
The 43-year-old escaped patient was found 24 hours later in the 9th arrondissement in Paris
Frederic Legrand - COMEO / Shutterstock
A patient who escaped from a psychiatric hospital in Toulouse on Friday, January 28, has been found in Paris.
The 43-year-old man, a known rapist, escaped from the Gérard-Marchant psychiatric hospital in Toulouse (Occitanie).
He was found 24 hours later in the 9th arrondissement in Paris. He is now in secure medical custody and in isolation, l'Agence régionale de santé d'Occitanie has confirmed.
His escape was the third from the psychiatric hospital in 10 days, and the fourth psychiatric patient to escape from Toulouse in the same time (the fourth was from the psychiatric unit of Purpan hospital).
The first to escape was 34-year-old former soldier, known murderer and cannibal Jérémy Rimbaud, who has post-traumatic stress disorder and a range of other psychological problems.
Read more: Fourth patient escapes psychiatric hospital in Toulouse in 10 days
The two other escapees were not known to be dangerous.
All have since been recaptured and returned to the medical facility.
Patients not prisoners
The patients at the Gérard-Marchant psychiatric hospital are not prisoners and are normally allowed to walk around the grounds of the hospital while under surveillance.
An unnamed staff member at Gérard-Marchant hospital said that in reality there are often escapes from the hospital, but it is only when someone dangerous escapes, like Rimbaud, that the hospital reports it, RTL reported.
The hospital has announced that the patient wards have been closed since 18:30 on Friday 28, and will remain closed for the duration of this weekend to prevent other escapes.
The regional health authority has also said that additional security measures have been added to the hospital.
This includes securing entrances and exits, reinforcing patient surveillance, closing units, adding additional staff members and a review of risk assessments.
The mayor of Toulouse, Jean-Luc Moudenc, has demanded a rapid and transparent explanation from the regional health authority regarding the recent escapes.
Similarly, the Ministry of Health has also called for an investigation into this cluster of escapes.
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