Lytham mental health patient burgled and raped a sleeping 67-year-old Blackpool woman in her home after discharging himself

Daniel Craythorne-Moran, 27, formerly of Highbury Road, Lytham, threatened to kill the woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, during the burglary of her flat, before attacking her.

In evidence the victim spoke of her terror as she was woken by a light shining onto her face, and said she thought she was dreaming at first.

Craythorne-Moran told her: "Shut the f*** up I want money" and pushed her onto the bed.

After raping her he left with cash, keys and a tablet.

His fingerprints and DNA were later linked to the scene of the attack, and CCTV showed a man in identical clothes to those he left the Harbour in, walking near the flat.

Preston Crown Court ruled he was unfit to stand trial but jurors reached verdicts on January 6 that he did the acts charged, namely rape and burglary.

The defendant, also known as Danny Paul Craythorne, did not attend his sentence hearing.

He has been held in Ashworth high secure hospital in Liverpool for the past 13 months and will continue to be, after he was given a Hospital Order under section 37 of the Mental Health Act, with a Restriction Order under section 41.

Judge Philip Parry said it was the most suitable method of disposing of the case and was "necessary for the protection of the public from serious harm whether physical or psychological".

He added: " He knows his case is listed for disposal today and what the likely outcome will be. He says he needs help.

" The nature of his acts which the jury found he had committed were very serious examples of their kind - he was found by the jury to have broken into the home of a lone, 67 year old, sleeping woman in the early hours of July 3, 2019.

"He threatened to kill her and then he raped her. He did all of this just hours after discharging himself from The Harbour Mental Health unit at Blackpool Hospital where he had been a voluntary inpatient as a result of his long-standing condition of paranoid schizophrenia."

He said he was satisfied his offending is wholly or significantly in part attributable to the disorder.

The court heard many medical reports had been reviewed, and in one the Clinical Director of Ashworth High Secure Hospital said the defendant was " one of the most ill of mentally disordered offenders anywhere in the country." and that despite treatment with clozapine his condition had got progressively worse during 2020.

He will not be released from hospital until approved for release by a First Tier Mental Health Tribunal.

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