Detectives hunting convicted murderer Lerone Boye offer £15,000 reward

Lerone Boye. Photograph: Metropolitan Police

Detectives hunting convicted murderer Lerone Boye, who absconded from a mental health unit in Homerton, are offering a reward of £15,000 for information leading to his arrest.

He went on the run from the John Howard Centre – a mental health unit meant to be a secure place in which to treat ill convicts as an alternative to prison – on 16 October and has been missing ever since.

Boye was sentenced in December last year to 28 years for the murder of 17-year-old Kelvin Chibueze in Ilford in 2011.

Detectives previously offered up to £10,000 for information leading to his arrest.

John Howard Centre staff member Dean Ablakwa, 29, from north London, appeared at Snaresbrook Crown Court earlier this month accused of helping Boye to escape.

Court staff said Mr Ablakwa has been remanded in custody and no plea has yet been entered in the case, which will resume in January.

The £15,000 reward is available to anyone who provides information leading to Boye’s arrest directly to Crimestoppers either by calling them on 0800 555 111 or via a secure online form found on their website crimestoppers-uk.org.

Police say there is intelligence suggesting Boye may still be in East London.

He is also known to have links to Barking, Newham and Ilford.

The public are advised not to approach Boye and anyone who sees him is being advised to call 999.