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Police tell public not to approach murder suspect on the run from mental hospital
Rashid Razaq20 Nov 2008
A SUSPECTED murderer on the run from a psychiatric hospital would not have broken free if he had been remanded to a jail, his alleged victim's mother claimed.
Clare Wallace, whose son Ben Foster, 22, was killed in April, questioned the security of the south London mental health unit from which suspect John Claydon fled on Tuesday night.
Claydon, 28, is accused of murdering Mr Foster in Bath, Somerset, and is now the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he escaped from Springfield Hospital, in Wandsworth.
Scotland Yard has warned members of the public not to approach the 28-year-old, who made for freedom with a second man, John Slavin, 44, who also faces trial for violent offences.
Mrs Wallace urged anyone with information to come forward. In a statement issued through Avon and Somerset police, she said: "This man has been charged with the murder of my son Ben. I would urge anyone who knows where he is to contact police immediately, so he can be brought to trial.
"I would hate for any other family to go through the pain that we are suffering. I am concerned that, given the severity of the charges he faces, he was not detained securely. In my view if he had remained on remand in prison he would not be at large now.
"I have nothing but admiration for the police about how they have handled this and the support they have given our family."
Police, including dog handlers and a helicopter team, are hunting round the clock for the two men, who left the hospital around 10.20pm on Tuesday. Investigators are looking at CCTV footage and have brought in extra officers from the Territorial Support Group.
Claydon, described as white, approximately 5ft 11in tall and of medium build, has cropped dark-brown hair, a heavily scarred face and a gold tooth. Police said he has links to the Kensington and Chelsea areas of London.
Slavin, described as white, approximately 6ft 3in tall and of thin build, has tattoos on his left arm and hand. He was wearing dark clothes and a beanie hat.
It is not the first time Springfield Hospital has been criticised over lax security. It was condemned after one of its patients, John Barrett, killed a cyclist in Richmond Park in September 2004.
The paranoid schizophrenic stabbed retired banker Denis Finnegan, 50, to death after walking out of the hospital's grounds.
An inquiry, headed by mental health solicitor Robert Robinson, found carers placed too much emphasis on Barrett's wishes and did not properly assess the risk he posed.
In 2000, the South West London and St George's Mental Health Trust, which runs the hospital, was criticised in an independent report, over serious failures after patient Anthony Joseph was set free and went on to kill his social worker Jenny Morrison.
Claydon was due to stand trial for murder in March alongside a second man, Kieran Thomas, 28. Both men deny the offence.
A spokeswoman for South West London and St George's NHS Trust said Claydon and Slavin may have been helped to escape. She said: "Two patients escaped from the Shaftesbury Clinic on the evening of November 18. It appears that they escaped with external assistance. The matter was reported immediately to the police. An investigation is under way."
Reader views (6)
Typical of the utter buffoons who are running our
laughable justice system. These nutters people should have
been locked-up and handcuffed when moved about. Better still, they should have chains on their hands and feet just as they do in the US; but, of course we can't do that in this country because their 'Human Rights' would be infringed and a queue of lawyers and criminal loving dogooders would take their cases all the way to the European Court. We must be the laughing stock of the world!
- Lb, Bromley, 21/11/2008 02:27
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The one thing that made everything even slightly that little bit less painfull when Ben died was that we knew the killer was caught. And then they go and put a murderer in a mental hospital - which was probably part of his plan to escape, where previous criminals have escaped from.
Spending more on prisons than they do on education, they're making a pretty big mess out of it.
Ben deserves some peace. Justice better be served.
- Kaz, Bath, 20/11/2008 23:08
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I used to work in a supported home for the mentally ill in wandsworth on occasions are residents were sectioned and ended up in Springfield, on numerous occasions thay would return to the house having just walked out of the hospital,many times the staff at the hospital would ring us to tell us one of are residents had escaped over the wall and if he turned up back at the house would we phone the hospital to inform them,and that was 10 years ago and it seems its still happening
- Kev, London, 20/11/2008 20:26
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I see I chose a good week to visit my parents in Glasgow. As a resident of Balham, I really do wonder about security at Springfield. If it's a secure unit, how come people are getting out? In the last 6 months I've seen 4 incidents in Balham High Road, involving persons of a mentally disturbed nature.
- Jock, London, 20/11/2008 17:42
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It is not exactly difficult to escape from Springfield. It is more like a country park than a mental institute, and it is surrounded by suburban houses, not a fence!
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland, 20/11/2008 11:49
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So he's on remand for suspected murder, has a heavily scarred face and a gold tooth, and the police say not to approach him. Good advice, thanks for the important safety advise.
- Nj, London, 20/11/2008 10:03
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