An escaped London prisoner is back in custody after being arrested following a police manhunt.
Daniel Boakye, 21, who was jailed for a series of knifepoint robberies, went on the run on Tuesday morning after slipping away from prison guards during a visit to hospital.
But he was tracked down in Thamesmead and arrested earlier today on suspicion of escaping from lawful custody.
Four people, including a 17-year-old girl, have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: “Shortly after 03:30hrs on Tuesday, 10 February, the Met was informed by the Prison Service that a prisoner had escaped custody while under the care of prison staff at a west London hospital.
“Following extensive enquires by Met Police officers, the 21-year-old man was located at an address in Thamesmead at around 12:40hrs on Wednesday, 11 February and arrested on suspicion of escaping from lawful custody.
“He was also arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary, this offence relates to a separate incident which took place prior to the man absconding custody. He remains in police custody.
“Two women, aged 20 and 51, a 17-year-old girl, and a 30-year-old man were also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They have been taken into police custody.”
His escape is expected to cause further embarrassment for a government still recovering from the backlash of the Hadush Kebatu case, which sparked protests.
Boakye, who was being detained at HMP Feltham in west London, escaped from the guards while at West Middlesex Hospital.
In 2023, Boakye was found guilty of stealing £115,000 worth of cryptocurrency, alongside three other teenagers.
He was given a sentence of six years and five months for conspiracy to commit robbery at Wood Green Court.
The court heard how the gang, comprised of Boakye, Justin Popoola, Nathan Mohalland, and a 17-year-old, committed a series of robberies across the capital between June 2021 and January 2022.
The group threatened their victims at knifepoint, forced them to share their phones and passcodes to give them access to the devices, before transferring the cryptocurrency to “hot wallets”.
Police identified them through the stolen bank information they used to order takeaways to their home addresses.
One source told The Sun that Boakye has a history of having, or “pretending to have”, seizures, which offers a possible explanation of why he was in hospital that day. The paper also reported that he was thought to have links to a gang in Tottenham.
A source told the paper: “This is a huge cock-up and a massive embarrassment to the prison service.
“Although he is only in for robbery, Boakye is extremely dangerous and has links to serious gang members.”
A Prison Service spokesperson said an investigation was underway into how he was able to escape from hospital.
