Knife victim hits out after attacker escapes again

A knife victim who was stabbed 20 times in a frenzied attack has criticised authorities after his assailant escaped from a psychiatric facility for the third time in 14 years.

Mark Kemp, 48, a former doorman, accused police and hospital staff of being “outsmarted” by Mark Ricketts after he absconded from Southleigh community hospital in Croydon. Ricketts, 52, a paranoid schizophrenic, was convicted of attempting to murder Mr Kemp in 1994 and detained indefinitely at Broadmoor. Police said Ricketts absconded for a third time on Tuesday and warned the public not to approach him. Mr Kemp said: “I’m horrified. How can he keep escaping?”