The mother of a brutally murdered teenager said it was a “slap in the face” that one of the killers escaped on what would have been her son’s birthday.
Tina Chibueze found out that Lerone Michael Boye, 27, who was found guilty along with three other men of murdering her son Kelvin, had escaped from a medium security hospital after a police appeal on television.
Kelvin, 17, was murdered in August 2011 while attending a birthday party at the former Artifex club, High Road, Ilford.
Boye remains at large and police have warned the public to dial 999 immediately if they see him.
Tina said: “It’s a slap in the face. He was looking at me when he was in the dock and laughed in my face when he got his sentence.
“I got a life sentence as well but there’s no minimum term. Is that justice for me?”
Four men, including Boye, were sentenced for a combined 93 years for the vicious attack during which they sat on Kelvin’s legs so he could not escape while he was repeatedly stabbed with a foot long blade.
The 17-year-old collapsed in the car park outside Lidl supermarket in the High Road.
Tina said she has been off work since she found out about Boye’s escape on October 16 from the medium security medical clinic the John Howard Centre in Homerton.
“I have to go back to work but I will be looking over my shoulder,” she said. “My daughter is so scared and the police said we have no reason to worry about but look at the good job they did keeping him in prison.”
Boye formerly of Henley Road, Ilford, was sentenced at the Old Bailey last December to 28 years imprisonment.
“I’m disappointed in the police for letting him get away,” Tina said. “They should have taken him to a maximum security hospital.
“This guy knows my face and is a very dangerous guy. I just want them to get him – we are talking about a murderer.”
According to a spokesman for the East London NHS Foundation, which runs the John Howard Centre, putting Boye in the medium security facility was a joint decision by the Ministry of Justice, prison service and Trust.
Janet Flaherty, spokesman for the trust, said: “We have carried out a thorough review of our security measures following this incident.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “Compulsory treatment of mental health conditions cannot be provided in prisons.
“Where there is clear medical evidence that a prisoner requires such treatment, the decision can be made to transfer them to a secure psychiatric hospital.
“The decision is taken by officials acting on behalf of the Secretary of State in consultation with doctors, following a thorough risk assessment.”
• Dean Ablakwa, 29, from north London appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court yesterday charged with conspiracy to assist an offender escape from custody.
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