A PATIENT has absconded from a medium-security psychiatric hospital near York.
Police say the patient, described as "potentially violent," escaped over a security fence at Stockton Hall Hospital, in Stockton- on-the-Forest, at about 3pm yesterday.
A spokesman said that in such circumstances, police would normally carry out a search of the immediate area, circulate a description and inform the force for the area where the patient was from.
Hospital executive director David Ackroyd said an investigation had been launched to discover how the patient, who was under assessment, managed to abscond.
He said the hospital did not feel the patient represented a serious risk.
Updated: 10:48 Thursday, February 12, 2004
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