By Gavin Mackintosh-
A man who stabbed his neighbour to death has absconded from a mental health facility in London.
Philip Theophilou, 54,(pictured) went missing from the John Howard facility in Homerton on Sunday (March 31) and has since not returned. Police say he was released under authorised unescorted leave.
Authorised escorted leave describes when a patient is by an authorised member of hospital staff. It is not clear exactly how he managed to escape, but The Eye Of Media.Com is still investigating those details.
In 2004 he killed his 51-year-old neighbour Simon Breed in a frenzied knife attack.
Theophilou then lived rough in Hyde Park for three days before being caught, the Old Bailey heard in 2005.
He admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and was sent to Broadmoor special hospital without limit of time under the Mental Health Act, in November 2005. He was eventually discharged from Broadmoor in 2016.
Doctors said he suffered from schizophrenia but had not been taking his medication at the time of the killing in April 2004.
His victim, Mr Breed, received six stab wounds and several defence wounds, after Theophilou lay in wait for him with a kitchen knife outside their house in Cornwall Avenue, Alexandra Park.
Theophilou ran to the park from his home in north London, leaving Mr Breed dying outside his house.
Police believe he travelled to the Green Park area on Sunday at about 11.25am.
He was wearing a grey jumper, blue jeans, and a black jacket.
Officers and medical professionals are concerned at his lack of access to medication and the risk he may pose without it.
Theophilou had caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to Mr Breed’s house and car with a meat cleaver in January 2003.
The attack followed building work started by Mr Breed shortly after he moved in 2002, and which had caused a crack in the next door house that Theophilou shared with his parents, the court heard.
He was sectioned under the Mental Health Act and released from St Ann’s Hospital in August 2003.
There were no problems until eight months later when Mr Breed was attacked at night as he returned from playing at a folk club.
Paul Brogan, defending, said Theophilou had been discharged from hospital in 2003 in apparently “unsatisfactory circumstances”.
“There was a failure to monitor or treat him after discharge,” said Mr Brogan.
Anyone who sees Theophilou should not approach him. Instead, call 999 immediately quoting CAD 3598/31Mar.
A spokesperson for the East London NHS Foundation Trust said in a statement to The Eye Of Media.Com: “We can confirm that we are actively working with the Metropolitan Police for the safe return of a patient from our care.
“The individual had been on unescorted leave from the John Howard Centre, our medium secure unit in Hackney as part of his rehabilitation, and did not return as planned on Sunday, 31st March.