Inmate who escaped from Athalassa hospital turns himself in

A 40-year-old convict who escaped Athalassa psychiatric hospital on Sunday turned himself into the prison service on Monday afternoon.

He had been under mandatory hospitalisation and kept at the facility since January 5.

Speaking on CyBC television on Monday, police spokesman Christos Andreou said the man was an inmate, transferred to Athalassa for mental health services, who was serving time at the central prisons for a serious crime involving family violence.

The man broke through a door to escape and police received a report of this from the hospital at around 7pm on Sunday. He was not under police guard at the time, Andreou said, as the police was not the relevant authority responsible in this case.

Asked whether there had been any negligence of duty in terms of guarding the inmate, the police spokesman said this remained to be determined.

Due to the patient’s violent history, police said they took all necessary measures to protect family members, Andreou said.

After the man turned himself to the prison service, police was called to the scene and arrested him. He was charged in writing and then sent back to Athalassa.