Convict in 'cigarette break out'

John Slavin (right) allegedly escaped with fellow inmate John Claydon

An armed robber escaped from a secure psychiatric hospital in London during a cigarette break and robbed a shop at knife-point, a jury has heard.

John Slavin, 44, was eight months into a sentence at Springfield Hospital in Wandsworth, south-west London, for robbing a Gloucester Road bookshop.

But Southwark Crown Court heard that in March 2008 he escaped through a fence - and raided the bookshop a second time.

His mental illness meant he was not fit to make a plea, a judge said.

Judge Stephen Robbins told jurors: "Your task is not to determine his innocence or guilt but simply whether he did the acts he is charged with."

Slavin, of no fixed address, was originally convicted of robbing a hotel in Victoria, central London, armed with a knife and stealing £170 from the bookshop while terrifying the female shop worker with a blade.

'Very scared'

He escaped from the medium-secure hospital when he and 11 other prisoners had a cigarette break in an enclosed yard, the court heard.

Roger Smart, prosecuting, said: "During a roll call by staff it was noticed John Slavin and another man were missing.

"Staff then saw a man low to the ground by the fence making his way through a hole.

"By the time they arrived he was gone."

The court heard that within 24 hours Slavin had armed himself with a knife and revisited the bookshop.

A different female shop worker was ordered to empty the till and left "very scared", it was said.

Slavin allegedly told her: "Sorry, sorry, I'm a drug addict."

The prosecution said before Slavin was re-arrested he also stole a laptop from a clothes shop in Notting Hill, west London, where he warned he would stab anyone who raised the alarm.

He is accused of four counts of robbery, possessing an offensive weapon and escaping from lawful custody.

There have been four other high profile escapes from the hospital in the last five years.