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Dangerous Mental Patient on the Loose

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 18:01 CDT

A DANGEROUS mental patient is on the run after escaping from a London psychiatric hospital notorious for breakouts.

Andrew Nunoo, 30, walked out of a secure unit at Springfield Hospital, Tooting, on Sunday. He is the second man in a week to escape.

Police say he is "a threat" and warned the public not to approach him but to dial 999 if they see him.

Last Sunday, a patient convicted of attempted murder went on the run from Springfield for 48 hours.

A year ago, paranoid schizophrenic John Barrett walked out of the hospital and stabbed to death former banker Denis Finnegan in Richmond Park. Police sources today said Nunoo's escape is only the latest "appalling" blunder at the hospital.

Mr Finnegan's brother, also called John, branded the institution a "shambles".

Mr Nunoo, who was detained under the Mental Health Act, was last seen at Springfield at 6.20pm on Sunday. He is black, 5ft 11in tall and of muscular build with a shaved head.

When last seen, he was wearing a black shirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

Police said he had friends in south west London and Mitcham.

Superintendent Guy Ferguson-of Wandsworth police, said: "Andrew Nunoo needs to be in medical care for his own wellbeing.

"If anyone has any information as to his whereabouts or any other information, I would ask them to contact police."

Last week Altin Bushi, 24, went on the run from Springfield where he was serving a 10-year sentence for an attempted murder in Croydon in 1998. He had been transferred to the hospital days earlier.

Police tracked him down in Northumberland last Tuesday, trying to board a ferry to Europe with a knife.

In April, a patient escaped from the hospital while walking with staff in the grounds and was on the loose for 11 days before being caught. In May, the South West London and St George's Mental Health NHS Trust, which runs Springfield, was fined Pounds 28,000 for safety failures over the death of male nurse, Mamade Chattun.

Mr Chattun, 34, died from multiple injuries in an attack by schizophrenic Jason Cann, 22, in June 2003. He had been left alone with Cann, even though the patient had earlier pinned a social worker to the floor threatening to "rip his throat out".

The health trust which runs the hospital has launched an inquiry into both recent breakouts.

No one from the trust was available for comment.

Source: Evening Standard; London (UK)

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