STAND-OFF

Armed psychiatric patient ends Carstairs State Hospital siege after being warned he’d be shot

AN armed psychiatric patient ended a Carstairs State Hospital siege after being warned he'd be shot.

Firearms officers rushed to the State Hospital after the man, from Tayside, threatened to stab nursing staff and barricaded himself in a toilet.

A team of cops with stab vests had been called initially, but the patient had refused to hand himself in and said he would harm them.

A source described the incident as “terrifying” for hospital workers, and said the patient would only stand down once it became clear he would be shot if it was the safest way to bring the disturbance to an end.

They told the Daily Record: “The patient managed to barricade himself inside a bathroom and more or less dismantle it, wrenching fittings out and smashing them.

“He managed to fashion a weapon from the debris he created and threatened the nursing staff who were trying to persuade him to come out.

“He said the first person to come through that door was ‘getting stabbed’.

“A team of police officers arrived with stab vests, but the patient continued to make threats and said he would stab one of them if they came in.

“Eventually it was decided to call in the firearms unit. After a while, about half a dozen officers carrying what looked like sub-machine guns came into the ward, looking like they meant business.

“It was terrifying for the other patients and staff.

“When the patient saw the weapons and understood they were prepared to shoot him if that was the only way to end the situation without hurting anyone else, he gave it up.”

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "Officers were made aware of concerns for a 24-year-old man causing a disturbance within Carstairs State Hospital in Lanarkshire around 7.10pm on Friday, 15 May.

"Officers attended and the incident was resolved with the 24-year-old returned to the care of hospital staff. Nobody was injured.”

Carstairs State Hospital houses some of Scotland’s most dangerous psychiatric patients.

Infamous past inmates have included Thomas McCulloch and Robert Mone - who murdered a nurse, patient and police officer in an escape bid.

Earlier this year we told how a violent inmate - dubbed Scissorhands - was sent to the State Hospital for life after carrying out brutal attacks in jail.