A charity worker who survived a frenzied attack by a psychotic knifeman told of his horror today after his attacker absconded from a mental health unit for the second time.
Police have warned the public not to approach Mark Ricketts, 47, who fled Springfield Hospital in Tooting on Saturday without his medication.
They say extensive efforts are under way to find Ricketts, and are advising anyone who sees him to call 999.
Springfield bosses were criticised in 2004 when Ricketts, a paranoid schizophrenic, went missing for six days after escaping over a low fence while on a day visit from Broadmoor.
Ricketts was jailed for attempted murder in 1994 for stabbing Mark Kemp, then a bingo hall doorman, 20 times with a bread knife.
Mr Kemp, now 38, only survived because the blade snapped. He was informed of Ricketts’s latest escape on Monday and advised to stay away from the Tooting area.
Mr Kemp, of Victoria, set up an independent victims’ charity in the wake of the attack. He told the Standard: “Last time I was amazed this could happen. Now I just cannot believe it.
“I lost everything and it has taken me a long time to rebuild my life so to have this coming back to haunt me is just horrifying. I would expect they would have learnt their lessons by now.
“I would like to see the unit shut down because there are just too many problems there. I don’t want it to cost someone else’s life.”
Springfield Hospital has been criticised for lax security in the past, with at least five absconding patients going on to kill.
In 2009 it was revealed that 30 patients had fled secure wards at the hospital in the previous four years.
Tooting MP Sadiq Khan today called for an independent inquiry, saying the community felt “badly let down” by the hospital.
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A spokeswoman for South West London and St George’s Mental Health Trust said: “We are aware of the situation and are liaising with colleagues at the Metropolitan Police to ensure his safe return.”
Ricketts is described as black, 6ft 2ins and of large build. He was wearing a blue tracksuit top.
