Security spotlight as hospital escapees tied to deaths
The safety of mental health facilities has come to the fore after two men allegedly escaped from a major hospital and killed three people.
A man charged over a police chase that resulted in the deaths of two women escaped from Australia’s largest mental health facility on February 8, the NSW mental health minister confirmed on Thursday.
This follows an earlier revelation that another Cumberland Hospital patient escaped on Feb. 7 before allegedly going on a bloody stabbing spree on Tuesday.
Safety breaches at the facility sparked outrage from the NSW opposition.
Opposition mental health spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell said the state’s most vulnerable patients were being let down by a broken system.
“Twice escaping from the same mental hospital within 24 hours is not a coincidence, it is a sign that something is seriously wrong with the system,” he said.
Luke Peter Francis, 31, reportedly escaped from Western Sydney hospital four days after being released from prison on parole.
According to the mental health minister, he was involuntarily staying in hospital when he escaped.
Rose Jackson said Francis was accused of threatening a nurse and taking her access card before fleeing.
He blamed the police for not taking Francis back to the hospital, even though his status was changed from “escaped” to “discharged.”
“If he was truly mentally ill and on parole, I don’t know why he wasn’t brought back,” Ms Jackson told ABC Radio.
“Police should have had the authority to bring him back to a facility for evaluation.”
It launched an emergency review of safety protocols at Cumberland Hospital.
On Saturday, the 31-year-old man allegedly stole a car and led police on a chase across the city for 40 minutes before crashing into a car in Camden South.
Teacher and charity director Lee Casuscelli, 60, and his passenger Maureen Crosland, 84, were killed when the stolen car illegally entered the intersection and crashed into their vehicle.
Francis is being held in custody on charges of aggravated dangerous driving causing death and is due to appear in court on February 26.
His escape came a day after Setefano Mooniai Leaaetoa also escaped from Cumberland Hospital.
The 25-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly killing one man and wounding two others in a stabbing attack in Merrylands.
NSW Health confirmed on Wednesday that Leaaetoa was believed to have escaped from a medical transport vehicle while being taken from the mental health facility to Westmead Hospital.
He is charged with murder and attempted murder.
Ms Jackson has previously acknowledged the mental health system is grossly underfunded.
The investigation into the mass stabbing attack at Westfield Bondi Junction has identified numerous problems with NSW’s mental health system, including the need to improve outreach and accommodation services.
Psychiatrists in public hospitals resigned en masse in 2025 after years of growing vacancies, relatively low wages, burnout and inadequate supervision of junior staff.
The state wage arbiter ordered an immediate 20 percent wage increase in October to address the crisis.
NSW psychiatrists have called for careful, accurate and sensitive public discourse about fatal events.
“The vast majority of people living with mental health issues are not violent,” Ian Korbel, president of the NSW branch of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said on Wednesday.
Lifeline 13 11 14
beyondblue 1300 22 4636
