Convicted Liverpool murderer escapes from open prison

Sep 25 2007

A convicted murderer has escaped from an open prison, police said today.

Raymond Alvin Kennedy, who was convicted of kicking a vagrant to death when aged just 15, absconded from the Sudbury open prison in Derbyshire on Friday.

Kennedy, now 32, was jailed for life in 1991 for the murder of Ronald Davies in Liverpool.

He used to live in the Knotty Ash area and police warned the public not to approach him.

He is white, 5ft 8in tall, with a slim build. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He wears glasses.

Forty-eight inmates have gone on the run from Sudbury since January.

This is the third time Kennedy has escaped from custody. The teenager fled council care while on remand for the murder, only to be brought back by his mother.

In 2001 he escaped from HMP Grendon in Aylesbury, Bucks, with two other men by cutting through a fence.

Kennedy was ordered to serve a minimum 12 years after he pleaded guilty to murder at Liverpool Crown Court in 1991.

He claimed Mr Davies, 53, had tried to sexually assault him.

Kennedy beat him with a stick, snapped the piece of wood, and used the sharp end to stab him to death.

Sudbury jail was at the centre of a political row earlier this year over the use of open prisons after 11 inmates went missing in June alone.

A total of 78 prisoners absconded from Sudbury last year. The record drew criticism from shadow home secretary David Davis, who accused ministers of putting the public in danger.