A dangerous psychiatric patient who escaped from hospital and raped a teenage girl had been taken to see violent horror films by staff, a court was told yesterday.

Darren Harkin, 20, who was originally detained for the murder of his six-month-old stepbrother, had also built up a large collection of horror movies and pornography on DVD while in the low-security Hayes hospital unit in Bristol.

Yesterday a judge questioned why Harkin, who had a history of absconding, had been transferred to a low-security unit in the first place, why the alarm was not raised earlier and why he was allowed “unrestricted access” to violent and pornographic material.

In January 2000 Harkin, aged 12, had walked into a police station in Bristol and confessed to the murder of his stepbrother. He had stabbed the baby in the head and chest with a kitchen knife and cut off his right arm.

Harkin could give no explanation for his actions, and doctors later diagnosed schizophrenia and “autistic spectrum disorder”, which meant that he was unable to comprehend the consequences of his actions on other people. He spent several years in a medium-security psychiatric hospital before being transferred to the Hayes in the village of Pilning near Bristol, which is managed by the National Autistic Society. There Harkin was allowed to make supervised visits to the cinema and local snooker clubs despite a history of running away.

In February Harkin absconded but the supervisor did not raise the alarm for half an hour for fear of “panicking” other residents.

After his escape, Harkin burgled a nearby house before crossing the Severn Bridge on foot and abducting a 14-year-old schoolgirl at knifepoint in Chepstow high street. He threatened to kill the girl before raping her twice. After his arrest it emerged that Gwent Police had not been alerted about his escape.

Leighton Hughes, for the prosecution, told the hearing at Reading Crown Court that Harkin's behaviour had got worse in the time before his escape and that he was supposed to be on 24-hour watch. On one occasion he had asked a woman staff member for sex and when she said “no”, asked if there was anyone else available.

Mr Hughes said: “After that incident, the hospital management ordered that no one should be left alone with Harkin. On the run-up to his escape, Harkin had attacked staff members and smashed things.”

He added: “Staff observed he had a large collection of DVDs with porno films and horror movies. Some members of staff fuelled his interest in horror films by taking him to see them at a local cinema. It simply beggars belief.”

Mr Hughes said that the victim of Harkin's attack and her family had been “profoundly affected” by her ordeal.

The judge, Nicholas Cooke, QC, the Recorder of Cardiff, told Harkin that he was unable to foresee a time when it would be safe to release him. Judge Cooke said: “I am satisfied you are exceptionally dangerous and very profoundly mentally ill.

“You suffer from autistic spectrum disorder and schizophrenia and that, combined with an inability to understand the effect of your actions, makes you not only exceptionally dangerous but difficult to treat.”

An independent inquiry has been set up by the National Autistic Society. Mark Lever, the chief executive, said: “We are committed to making the findings of this review publicly available and will be acting to ensure that nothing like this can happen again.”

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