A murderer is on the run after two armed men helped him escape while he was attending a hospital appointment, police have said.
People have been advised not to approach the “dangerous” Shaun Walmsley, 28, who fled from outside Aintree University hospital as he was getting into a car with prison officers.
Police said that men believed to be armed with a gun and a knife threatened the prison officers and demanded they release Walmsley, before making off in a gold-coloured Volvo. Neither prison officer was hurt.
Walmsley, a drug dealer who ran a nationwide crime network, is serving a life sentence with a minimum of 30 years at HMP Liverpool for the murder of Anthony Duffy, who was lured to a street near Aintree racecourse and repeatedly stabbed in May 2014.
He was sentenced for the murder along with three other men in June 2015. The judge, Clement Goldstone QC, said that Walmsley and one of his accomplices, Christopher Kenny, considered themselves “untouchable”, adding that the gang arranged to have Duffy “delivered up as their prey”.
Goldstone said: “They decided that Anthony Duffy had to be eliminated, not only because he was a rival drug dealer, but even more because he dared to cross them and the message had to be sent out as to who was boss. Anthony Duffy has paid the ultimate price. His family’s loss is unquantifiable.”
After the sentencing, police said Walmsley and his accomplices had neither shown any emotion nor expressed any remorse for their crime. In his sentencing remarks, the judge told the murderers: “This was a murder committed to enforce your self-perceived position of drug dealers of importance in Liverpool.”
The court heard that Duffy suffered 28 wounds during the attack. One witness told the jury that “two men appeared and one of them started stabbing him”. He said: “One just pulled a knife out and started stabbing.”
On Tuesday, Merseyside police described the gunman who assisted in Walmsley’s escape as having his face covered and wearing white shoes, grey tracksuit bottoms with a stripe down each side, a grey hoody and a dark coat. The man armed with a knife was described as having his face covered and wearing a green coat, dark Nike trainers and grey tracksuit bottoms.
They said Walmsley was about six feet tall and of slim build with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He was last seen wearing dark bottoms and a dark jacket.
Police said they received a report of the escape at about 3pm on Tuesday and launched a manhunt. “Patrols attended at the hospital immediately, and an extensive search of the area is underway and CCTV is being sought.
“An investigation into the full circumstances of the incident is ongoing and Merseyside police is working with the Ministry of Justice and other forces across the country to establish Walmsley’s whereabouts so that he can be returned to prison.”
