Arsonist who absconded from St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton found, police confirm

A convicted arsonist who absconded from St Andrew's Hospital in Northampton has been found, police confirm.

Johnny Brady escaped from the Billing Road facility on December 31 and had been on the run for four days. On the same same day, another patient escaped too, but was later found and returned.

After several urgent Northamptonshire Police appeals for sightings of 19-year-old Brady and a direct appeal to the teenager himself, the force confirmed that at just around 9.30am today (January 4) the force’s control room received a call from a member of the public reporting that they had seen Brady in the Crestwood Road area of Northampton.

Officers were immediately deployed to the area where Brady was found. He is now being taken back to his place of care.

Detective Sergeant Torie Harrison, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank the public for all their help over the past four days in sharing our media appeals and calling us with information.

“It has been invaluable and the reason why we have been able to find Brady safe and well.

“He will now be returned to St Andrew’s Hospital where his treatment needs can be met.”

In a statement issued on Tuesday (January 4), before Brady was found, a St Andrew’s spokeswoman said: “We are supporting the police with their investigation into finding Johnny Brady. We are urging him to return to us as soon as possible so he can continue with his treatment.

“A patient who absconded for a brief period on New Year's Eve is now back in our care, and we are undertaking a full investigation.

“Due to patient confidentiality we are unable to provide any more details at this stage.”

The hospital was asked by this newspaper what went wrong to mean the patients were able to escape and what would be done to make sure this does not happen again. This statement is the response to these questions. The hospital says it cannot give a more detailed response at this time