24 rape and 18 sex attack claims at hospital… but not a single prosecution

Published by The Daily Mail (24th March, 2023)

Police investigated 24 reported rapes and 18 sexual assaults at a single psychiatric hospital over the past three years – yet none of the cases led to prosecutions.

One young female patient claims she was groomed by a male support worker over several months before being repeatedly raped for six weeks in part of the hospital that was not monitored by security cameras.

The alarmingly high number of claimed incidents at Littlebrook, a 106-bed hospital for patients with acute conditions in Dartford, Kent, led to just one agency nurse being suspended from duty and reported to the police.

The revelations, which come amid growing concerns over police failures to tackle rape and a damning report into Metropolitan Police misogyny, yesterday sparked calls for an inquiry.

Rosena Allin-Khan, Labour’s spokeswoman for mental health, said: ‘These allegations are incredibly worrying and must be thoroughly investigated as patients deserve to feel safe in inpatient mental health units.’

Ms Allin-Khan, a trained hospital doctor, said there needed to be an urgent review after numerous failings in mental health care. ‘Patients have reported some very serious allegations – we need prevention and solutions to stop this happening again,’ she added.

The disturbing figures emerged in a freedom of information request to Kent Police from producers of ‘Locked Away – Our Autism Scandal’, a Channel 4 documentary broadcast tonight telling stories of autistic patients locked up in mental health units.

They include Dannielle Attree, 25, an autistic woman held in segregation and sleeping on a mattress on the floor for almost two years at Littlebrook, where she claims she was assaulted for the second time inside a secure psychiatric unit. Her story was raised in a Mail on Sunday campaign against abusive detention of people with autism and learning disabilities, which sparked several inquiries.

‘I fear her case is just the tip of an iceberg,’ said her mother Andrea.

Kent Police data reveals that of 24 reported rapes at Littlebrook, they failed to identify a suspect in half the cases. The remainder, along with 15 reported sexual assaults, were dropped for ‘evidential difficulties’.

In one alleged case of sexual assault, ‘further action resulting from the crime report’ was taken up by another official body or agency.

Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust, which runs Littlebrook and is one of the UK’s biggest mental health trusts with 33 sites, was judged ‘good’ in its most recent inspection by the health watchdog.

The Care Quality Commission praised the trust’s services as ‘outstanding’ for care and effectiveness, but marked it down as ‘requires improvement’ for safety with issues over maintenance, repairs and staff raising concerns. Helen Greatorex, the chief executive, said she could not discuss individual cases but encouraged reporting of any concerns by both patients and staff.

‘We take the safety of our service users, their loved ones and our staff extremely seriously and do not tolerate any form of sexual harassment or misconduct,’ she said.

‘Whilst none of the reports made to the police resulted in criminal action, we can confirm that we took immediate action against one individual, an agency nurse. We removed them from duty and reported them to both the police and their employer.’

She added that although Littlebrook had assisted autistic people in crisis, there needed to be far more specialist provision rather than relying on acute mental health hospitals to fill the glaring gaps in services.

Kent Police said tackling rape and sexual offences was a top priority, working with the Crown Prosecution Service to get offenders into court whenever possible. ‘We carry out a thorough investigation into every incident reported to us,’ said Detective Superintendent Mark Weller of Kent’s Protecting Vulnerable People Command. ‘Victims’ welfare is at the heart of everything we do.’

Autistic patient’s horrific abuse at the hands of those meant to help her

Dannielle Attree is 25 years old, autistic and has spent half her life locked up in psychiatric institutions. In this time she has been held in solitary confinement, chemically coshed, violently restrained by teams of adults and, says her mother, sexually assaulted at two hospitals supposed to provide help and support.

The first occasion, which council officials told Kent Police they believe ‘on balance of probability’ occurred, was inside a treatment and recovery unit for women at a major charity-run mental health centre in the Midlands.

The second was at Littlebrook Hospital, where this creative character with a passion for drawing and music was detained for 551 days in segregation, sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

Her mother Andrea says her daughter was groomed by a support worker over eight months. This man befriended Dannielle and then raped her repeatedly over six week, taking her to an area on the hospital wards without cameras – even on her 24th birthday, allegedly after the safeguarding alarm had been raised.

Kent council officials, who oversee her care, have confirmed they believe there was sexual abuse and a suspect was suspended – yet a senior police officer told the family ‘evidential difficulties’ led to the case being closed.

‘I fear her case is just the tip of an iceberg,’ said Andrea, a mother of three. It is understood the accused man, who was born abroad, has returned to his home country.

Despite finally being moved to a specialist centre for people with autism in the North of England, Dannielle’s mental health has deteriorated and her eating disorders intensified, resulting in substantial weight loss and forced feeding.

‘Maybe I’m better off dead,’ Dannielle texted her mother when saying goodnight recently. ‘I hope I don’t wake up again.’

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