A 21-year-old prisoner who escaped from a London hospital during a visit has been arrested after a police manhunt. Daniel Boakye slipped away from prison guards at West Middlesex Hospital on Tuesday morning and was tracked down in Thamesmead the following day.
Boakye was jailed for a series of knifepoint robberies and conspiracy to steal £115,000 worth of cryptocurrency. He was serving a sentence of six years and five months at HMP Feltham in west London. Police arrested him on suspicion of escaping from lawful custody and aggravated burglary relating to a separate incident.
Four people, including a 17-year-old girl and two women aged 20 and 51, were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. All remain in police custody.
The Metropolitan Police said an investigation is under way into how Boakye managed to escape. A Prison Service spokesperson confirmed an investigation is ongoing, after the incident sparked embarrassment for the government following the earlier Hadush Kebatu case.
Boakye was part of a gang that threatened victims at knifepoint, forcing them to hand over phones and cryptocurrency. Police identified them through stolen bank information used to order takeaways to their home addresses. Sources suggest Boakye has a history of seizures and links to a Tottenham gang.
