Urgent hunt for murderer who escaped from mental hospital

Police have launched an urgent manhunt for the killer who escaped from a mental health facility in east London.

Philip Theophilou, 54, left the factory in Homerton on Sunday and has yet to return.

The public was warned not to approach Theofilou, who was detained at the facility after stabbing a neighbor to death in 2004.

The Metropolitan Police said he went to the Green Park area of ​​central London at about 11:25 a.m. and was wearing a gray jumper, blue jeans, a black jacket and a black jumper.

Officials and medical professionals are concerned about his lack of access to medication and the risks he could face without it.

Anyone with information about Theophilou’s whereabouts is asked to contact 999 immediately, quoting reference CAD 3598/31Mar.

At his 2005 trial, Theofilou pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Jurors heard how he stabbed Simon Breed six times with a kitchen knife outside his home in Cornwall Avenue, Alexandra Park, north London.

Theophilou used a meat cleaver to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage to Mr Breed’s house and car after a row between the pair a year before the murder.

The stabbing, which occurred shortly after Mr Breed moved into the property in 2002 and started work, caused cracks to appear in the house next door where Theofilou lived with his parents.

After the initial incident, Theophilou was discharged from St Ann’s Hospital in August 2003 after being triaged under the Mental Health Act.

Just eight months later, Mr Breed was attacked in the night as he returned from playing at a folk club, the court heard.

Following his conviction, Theophilou was admitted to Broadmoor Hospital under the Mental Health Act.

Medical staff at the hospital said he suffered from schizophrenia and was not taking medication at the time of the killing.