Murderer escapes from Pentonville prison by climbing wall

Massey

Convicted murderer John Massey, who has escaped from Pentonville prison in north London, climbed the wall using a makeshift rope. Prison sources say Massey, 64, was not spotted in time. Massey - serving life for a 1975 pub murder - was reported missing at 18:30 BST on Wednesday. Police say he should not be approached. The Ministry of Justice has launched an investigation into the escape. Massey - one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners - was convicted of shooting dead a man with a sawn-off shotgun in Hackney. The escape is deeply embarrassing for the prison authorities and will inevitably raise questions about prison security. It is highly unusual for inmates to escape from within the confines of a closed prison such as Pentonville, our correspondent adds. There have been only three such escapes in the past three years in England and Wales. Police want anyone who spots Massey to call 999. Massey was released on parole in June 2007 - after spending the previous 18 months in an open prison on Derbyshire - and ordered to live in a bail hostel in Streatham, south London. But he broke his curfew after a few months to go and live with his dying father and, after a number of days, was recalled to prison. After two-and-half years, he was decategorised and sent to Ford open jail, in west Sussex, from where he absconded. He was arrested 10 months later and taken to Pentonville before Wednesday's escape. Up to 1,250 category B and C male prisoners - not the most serious category A offenders - are housed at Pentonville. Category B prisoners are defined as those "for whom the very highest conditions of security are not necessary but for whom escape must be made very difficult". Category C prisoners are defined as those "who cannot be trusted in open conditions, but who do not have the resources and will to make a determined escape attempt.". Conditions at Pentonville prison, which was built in 1842, have been heavily criticised by inspectors. In March 2009, convicted arsonist Julien Chautard spent minutes inside Pentonville before he escaped by clinging to the underside of the security van he had arrived in. He later handed himself in to police. Culled from BBC