UK - 'Black Dog Strangler' Phillip Westwater escapes secure psychiatric unit, on run

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BREAKING NEWS: Convicted killer known as the 'Black Dog Strangler'
on the run after escaping from secure mental hospital by asking to use toilet
(Daily Mail)
Deranged murderer Phillip Westwater, dubbed the Black Dog Strangler, has escaped from a secure psychiatric hospital in Newcastle.
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The 44-year-old was detained indefinitely under the Mental Health Act in 1989 following a pub fight in which he left a drinker paralysed after slashing him across the throat.

He then strangled fellow patient Derek Williams at Ashworth Hospital, Liverpool, with his dressing gown cord after becoming convinced that the his victim had turned him into a dog. The incident led to Westwater being given the nickname Black Dog Strangler.
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Westwater left the clothes he had been wearing in the hospital, considered a medium security unit, so officers are uncertain what he is wearing.
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The killer, who is described as white, six feet tall, of slim build with brown/grey hair, escaped form the hospital at around 10am today.

He has previously been detained at high security psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, joining high profile prisoners such as Ian Brady.
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more at link above
 
He escaped from a secure mental hospital? How secure is it really if you can get away from the toilets? I'm pretty sure he's not the only patient who ever wanted to use the toilet.
 
He escaped from a secure mental hospital? How secure is it really if you can get away from the toilets? I'm pretty sure he's not the only patient who ever wanted to use the toilet.
Not sure. It was "secure" but only "medium security." The circumstance of using the toilet is somewhat up in the air right now.
 
I wonder why he was housed in a 'medium security' hospital. It sounds like he should have been in a high security zone.
 
Also some doubt as to what actually happened when he killed the person. Mail says he thought he himself had been turned into a black dog by the soon-to-be victim; Guardian reports that it was the victim who "turned into the black dog."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2013/jan/02/black-dog-strangler-phillip-westwater

From what I can gather, he was being taken in-hospital from one location to another, requiring an escort. At some point between the two locations he asked to use the lavatory. He then - evidently having clothing placed there beforehand - left his hospital clothing and made good his escape.
 
An update; so this fellow was not only able to escape - he was no longer being held in a maximum security unit - he was also able to marry (a nurse's aide he met while in hospital) and also to change his name by - deed poll I guess? So what hospital official informed the police this fellow had escaped, and then evidently supplied police with HIS FORMER NAME? Or did police release certain info based on their own records? If this were the case they clearly hadn't kept track of Mr Westw....excuse me, Mr Whiteman. A (smh) all 'round.
A convicted killer detained under the Mental Health Act has escaped from a secure hospital in Newcastle.

Phillip Whiteman, 44, fled St Nicholas Hospital, a medium-security unit, in Gosforth, at about 10:00 GMT.
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The 44-year-old, who was previously known as Phillip Westwater, from Newcastle, left the clothing he had been wearing in the toilets so police do not have a description of what he might be wearing.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-20894173
 
He's been located, according to the BBC story.
 

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