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Search forBath murder suspect arrested
Friday, November 21, 2008, 16:45
A manhunt was launched for 28-year-old Johnny Claydon when he fled Springfield Hospital in London on Tuesday night.
Claydon, who is awaiting trial for the murder of 22-year-old shop worker Ben Foster, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police at Hampton Road in Twickenham this afternoon.
Claydon was undergoing a psychiatric assessment at the hospital in Wandsworth when he escaped along with another man on remand, 44-year-old John Slavin.
Slavin has not yet been caught.
Bath MP Don Foster had today raised the case with Health Secretary Alan Johnson.
The escape was allegedly made through a hole in the hospital fence in the latest in a long line of security breaches at the unit.
Ben's mother has attacked the judicial system for allowing Claydon to escape.
It was revealed in September that 116 patients have escaped from psychiatric hospitals in the past year and Mr Foster has called on the cabinet minister to outline the security measures in place at the unit.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, the MP says: “As you can understand, the relatives of Ben Foster are deeply angered and upset by the news of Claydon’s escape. As you will also be aware, this is not the first time that Springfield has been criticised for lax security.
“While I fully support the treatment of offenders with psychiatric problems in hospitals rather than in prisons, I am concerned by the evidence of frequent escapes.”
A spokesman for the South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust, which runs Springfield and which was responsible for Claydon's security, said: “How the two men escaped is still under investigation but it appears that a hole was cut from the outside in the double mesh perimeter fence to the side of the ward garden.
“The patients in question escaped while in the garden during the 10pm fresh air break.
“There were two nurses supervising the fresh air break. One of the patients was observed to be missing and someone was actually seen going through the hole.”
Former Ralph Allen School pupil Ben died after he was found lying in a pool of blood in Ringswell Gardens.
Ben's mum Clare Wallace, who lives in Somerset, praised the police's handling of the break-out, but condemned the system that led to him being allowed to escape.
In a statement released via Avon and Somerset police, she said: “I am concerned that given the severity of the charges he faces he was not detained securely."
Claydon is due to be tried with another man, Kieran Thomas, at Bristol Crown Court on March 9.
Ben, who was the elder brother of twins Max and Jack, grew up in Batheaston.
At the time of his death he had been working at the Threshers off-licence in Fairfield Park and as a part-time labourer/bricklayer to pay for the flat he was renting in Grosvenor Place, close to the scene of his stabbing.
He had hundreds of friends in the local area and further afield after spending time travelling in Thailand and New Zealand.
He was a keen basketball player and also practised tai chi.
It is not the first time that Springfield Hospital has been at the centre of security breaches.
One of its patients stabbed a retired banker to death in 2004 after walking out of the hospital's grounds.
An inquiry found mental health staff had not properly assessed the risk he posed.
In the same year, a Broadmoor patient absconded during a day trip to Springfield.
He spent six days on the run and an inquiry found staff had forgotten about his visit.
In 2006, two patients including a convicted rapist fled the secure Shaftesbury Clinic at the hospital and caught a train to Edinburgh.
A member of staff was subsequently suspended and the unit closed to new admissions.
Accused of Ben Foster murder: Johnny Claydon
