A murderer who went missing from a psychiatric hospital in north Wales has been located in London, police have said.
Richard Bracken, 48, left Bryn y Neuadd hospital in Llanfairfechan, Conwy county, at about 11.30am on Monday for an agreed leave of one hour, but alarms were raised after the patient failed to return to the secure unit.
North Wales police said Bracken was located in London on Tuesday afternoon after an extensive multi-agency operation and a nationwide appeal. He is in police custody.
The force had previously warned that Bracken could become unpredictable without his medication and was believed to pose a risk to himself and others. Schools in the village were reportedly put on lockdown as a safety precaution.
Det Supt Mark Pierce of North Wales police said: “I would like to thank the public and the media for their support and co-operation throughout this significant policing operation.”
Bracken was formerly known as Richard Dennick and was convicted of the murder of Alan Jones, the vicar of Llanberis, in 1982. The then 15-year-old used a broken billiard cue, a heavy metal ornament and a knife to repeatedly attack the 64-year-old clergyman in his home, stabbing him several times in the neck, arm and chest.
A judge described Bracken as “evil” and he was sentenced to life in prison. Six years into this sentence, he escaped from the hospital wing of Lewes prison in Sussex and went on the run for six months. He was later found in Wormwood Scrubs prison under a false name and returned to a category A prison, before being transferred to a secure hospital for treatment.
The local MP, Guto Bebb, said Bracken had been in care in Llanfairfechan for some time. “He has been on visits to the town – it’s part of the process of preparing him for release. But clearly yesterday something went wrong and the individual has disappeared,” Bebb told the Daily Post.
Angela Hopkins, the director of nursing at Betsi Cadwaladr University health board, said any decision to allow community leave for patients was “only taken after a full risk assessment by medical staff and with the consent of Ministry of Justice officials under delegated authority”.
