Convicted Wolverhampton killer absconds from prison with two other inmates

Lewis Daniel Thornton, now 29 years old, was convicted of manslaughter at Wolverhampton Crown Court in 2016.

Thornton, who was originally from the All Saints area of the city, is among the three men who left HMP Sudbury, in Ashbourne, near Lichfield, on Saturday, December 5.

Police in Derbyshire are warning members of the public not to approach the three men – Thornton, Daniel Gerald Ferris and Rory Allen.

The trio have various links across the Black Country and Birmingham – and could now be in those areas.

Thornton is described as white, 6ft 2ins tall, with blue eyes, brown hair and of a thin build. On his right wrist, Thornton has a "RIP Cobra" tattoo and "Angel" tattooed on his left arm.

He has links to the Wolverhampton and Walsall areas.

Thornton was jailed for 10 years after killing father-of-six Stephen Phillips in a street robbery. He punched Mr Phillips in the face as he stole his Blackberry mobile phone, falling the 54-year-old to fall back and fracture his skull in Wolverhampton.

His death was not treated as suspicious at first when his son found him dead at his flat in Dudley Road, in Blakenhall. But Mr Phillip's missing phone raised the alarm and a second post-mortem found the grandfather-of-four died of a head injury.

Thornton had been staying with his aunt at the address and the Blackberry phone was found stashed inside a slow cooker. He initially claimed he had found the phone when he heard it ringing on the ground – but further phone examinations found that to be untrue.

Thornton's violent past can be traced back to his days as a teenage tearaway, when he was given an ASBO for bringing misery to the lives of residents. In 2008, at the age of 17, he was part of a gang called The Rascals who terrorised the All Saints area of Wolverhampton. Thornton’s gang smashed windows, swore at police, harassed community groups and put fear into law-abiding citizens.

His string of convictions included robberies, an attempted robbery, affray, possession of a blade, assault by beating and even a common assault on his own father.

Ferris, 30, was convicted of robbery at Birmingham Crown Court in 2018. He is described as white, with blue eyes, brown hair and of a medium build.

Ferris has links to the Birmingham area.

Allen, 33, was convicted of being concerned in the supply of cocaine and heroin at Worcester Crown Court in 2018. He is described as black, 6ft 2ins tall with brown eyes, black hair, a black moustache and of a thin build.

Allen has “Tug” tattooed on his right arm, has links to the Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton areas.

Anyone who sees, or knows where any of the trio are, is asked to contact Derbyshire Police on 101, immediately quoting reference 906 of December 5.

You can also call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.