A 32-year-old Albanian man who escaped from an Athens psychiatric hospital earlier this month and was arrested on Tuesday for petty theft returned to the clinic with a gun he managed to steal from police during his brief detention.

The patient, who had escaped from the Dromokaiteio asylum on July 2, pocketed the service gun of an officer who had to leave the Kypseli precinct on an errand, police said.

Hospital staff discovered the weapon following the return of the escaped inmate. It had not been fired.

Police said a disciplinary investigation has been launched against the precinct head and the officer who failed to search the patient before returning him to the clinic.

Earlier this month staff at the Dromokaiteio went on strike to protest chronic staff shortages that are leaving hundreds of patients inadequately supervised.