A convicted rapist has gone missing from a secure mental hospital in Tooting, south London.
Police strongly advised the public not to approach Barrington Gordon, 41, who was last seen at Springfield Hospital at 5.45pm on Saturday.
His escape comes about a month after convicted killer Paul Caesar died after he was hit by a train while on the run from the same institution.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said Gordon was convicted on two counts of rape in 2000. He is described as a stocky black man with short black hair and a light beard. He was last seen wearing a brown string vest and white cut-off shorts with trainers.
His escape will add to the embarrassment for bungling hospital officials who have overseen a steady stream of escapes.
Last month, Caesar, 37, is believed to have committed suicide at Balham railway station, in south-west London, after he went on the run from the nearby Springfield Hospital after he was allowed to spend time in the grounds unescorted. Caesar's body was so badly mutilated after being hit by the train it could not be identified.
As a result body parts were driven under blue light escort for forensic examination at a centre in north-west London so the hunt could be formally called off.
And last November a suspected murderer and an alleged violent burglar also escaped from the mental institution. Both men were on remand before criminal proceedings and were being assessed for mental health conditions while at the hospital.
After one of the men was recaptured he was charged with three robberies committed while on the run.
Springfield Hospital was criticised after one of its patients, John Barrett, killed a cyclist in Richmond Park in September 2004. The paranoid schizophrenic stabbed retired banker Denis Finnegan, 50, to death after walking out of the hospital's grounds.
