Dawlish News
Psychiatric patient on the run found with a knife at city hospital
ESCAPED psychiatric patient Martin Cooper was found to be carrying a knife and a single stocking in his pocket when he turned up at the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital and refused to leave, Exeter Crown Court heard.
Cooper's friend, a fellow patient from Langdon Hospital, Dawlish, was carrying rope when they were searched by police who were called to the RD&E Hospital by worried staff.
Cooper, 34, whose last official address was at Langdon Hospital, appeared before Judge John Neligan at the court yesterday for breaching his community order.
He had been given a three-year order, including supervision and a mental health requirement that he lives at Langdon and receive psychiatric care, after being convicted of arson in December 2006.
Prosecutors told the court that Cooper and another man left the hospital without permission and met up with a third patient in Exeter on May 23.
