A murderer serving a life sentence in prison is on the run.

Police are searching for Derek Passmore who killed a man in a Hampton flat in October 1996.

The 48-year-old, formerly of Robin Hood Lane, Kingston, left Ford Prison on day release on Saturday, June 22, and has not been seen since.

Passmore is described as 6ft 1in, of stocky build, with brown hair and hazel eyes, and had a goatee beard when he was last seen.

Detective Chief Inspector David Wardley-Wilkins of Sussex Police said: “Passmore is not currently assessed as a direct physical threat to the public hence his being in an open prison, but in view of the seriousness of his offence, and the fact that so far there has been no sighting of him, we seek public assistance in reporting any information that may help us to find him.”

Police said Passmore has connections in Twickenham, Sutton and Kingston, Maidstone, and elsewhere in the south-east.

Passmore beat  to death Paul Craig, 34, who was crippled was arthritis, in Hampton in October 1996.

According to newspaper reports at the time, Mr Craig, an unemployed bachelor from Fulton Close, Hampton, was viciously beaten and left dying in Starling Walk, just 10 minutes from his home.

At his sentencing in 1997, Passmore was told he would spend at least 14 years behind bars but, at a review at the Royal Courts of Justice later that year, a judge decided to reduce the minimum time to 11 years.

Speaking at that hearing, Mr Justice McKinnon said: "There were no aggravating features.

"The mitigating features are that there was an intention to cause serious bodily harm, rather than to kill, and a lack of premeditation."

Passmore smashed the skill of Mr Craig in Hampton, after "erroneously" deciding Mr Craig was seeing his estranged girlfriend.

Anyone who sees Passmore, or who knows where he may be, is asked not to approach him but to contact 101 quoting Sussex Police Serial 1532 of 22/6.

You can also call independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.