THE MAN arrested after taking his mother hostage in an armed siege in Gosport went on the run for an hour after discharging himself from a psychiatric unit where he was being assessed, the Daily Echo can reveal.

The 32-year-old man, who has not been named, left the Coldeast Hospital in Park Gate at 8.45am yesterday after discharging himself from the unit.

The man was undergoing psychiatric assessments by doctors to determine whether he should be sectioned after holding his parents hostage at their home on Turner Avenue on Tuesday.

The man was taken into police custody after the three-hour stand off in which he threatened his parents with an axe and a hammer.

According to police he spent 45 minutes at the Locks Heath shopping centre mingling with shoppers before phoning them to say he was planning to return to the hospital.

Sgt Derek Nichols of Park Gate police said: "We sent a couple of units down there and spotted the man on Admirals Road where he was picked up by officers.

"I spoke to him myself a couple of times and he seemed to be on some strong medication as he wasn't really with it."

It is believed the man was detained under the Mental Health Act and was taken to a psychiatric hospital in Portsmouth for further treatment and assessment.

A spokesman at Gosport police station said as a result the man would not be facing any criminal charges at the present time.