Patient absconds from Hackney mental health centre

Missing: Police image of Anthony Knowles.

Police have warned people not to approach a mental health patient who absconded from the John Howard mental health centre in Homerton.

Anthony Knowles was on escorted leave from the John Howard mental health centre when he went missing on Saturday 21 June.

He is 48, five foot and eight inches tall, has a scar across his left eye, tattoos on both arms and walks with a limp.

Knowles is the second man to go missing from the centre this month.

On 6 June, Samuel Lee absconded and was only caught three days later.

Over 211 people have gone missing from the centre since 2001, data obtained through a freedom of information request has shown.

The East London NHS Trust said that staff alerted the police as soon as possible and will carry out a thorough review as a result of the incident.