Yard hold mental ward rape suspect

A 46-year-old man was arrested today on suspicion of raping a 60-year-old grandmother in her hospital bed.

Police arrested the suspect in Ealing following the attack at the John Conolly Unit of the West London Mental Health Trust.

He is in custody at a west London police station and will be questioned later today.

Officers believe the attacker was a regular visitor to the ward. Staff had reported seeing a man matching the description of the rapist in the unit 30 minutes before the attack.

Officers have trawled through the visitors' book to the unit in an effort to identify him.

Forensic evidence has been sent away for examination and detectives have been speaking to staff and patients, who have to be interviewed in the presence of an independent adult.

The attacker was spotted by a nurse who saw a man trying to have sex with the victim in her bed.

Detective Chief Inspector David Poole, leading the investigation, said: "This is a sickening attack on an extremely vulnerable member of our community.

"The rape has left the victim very distressed." The investigation was hampered because closed-circuit television video tapes were not in operation at the time of the incident.

Last month another police investigation was also hampered after security cameras in a maternity ward were not working when a baby was snatched from her sleeping mother at the Wordsley Hospital, Stourbridge, West Midlands.

In 1995 the Department of Health published guidelines recommending that hospitals introduce CCTV and identity badges for all staff.

However, security staff are more on the lookout for drug dealers or suspects who may assault staff rather than sex attackers.

In the 17-bed John Conolly ward each patient has their own room, as in most psychiatric units, and the ward is open so patients can come and go freely. The entrance is manned by a security guard and signs tell visitors they cannot enter without identification.

A security door in reception has to be unlocked for people to enter.

Scotland Yard have also launched an investigation into the rape of a 71-year-old cancer patient in a mixed-sex ward at King's College Hospital in south London.

In that case detectives are investigating the theory that the attack was carried out by a patient on the ward.