A murder suspect’s escape from police custody at the Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) last week Thursday has police stumped and concerned.

Four days after 17-year-old Michael Defrend escaped lawful custody while at PMH, police have found themselves with more questions than answers as to how he managed to escape and how he will be recaptured.

The teen murder suspect is the second individual to escape police custody while at PMH in less than one month.

Head of the Central Detective Unit (CDU) Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Anthony Ferguson told the Bahama Journal yesterday that he is concerned.

“We are always concerned when persons who have committed offences are on the streets, but for this case in particular we are concerned and we have been doing everything that we possibly can to locate this suspect,” ACP Ferguson said.

Defrend escaped police custody from PMH around 3:30 a.m. last week Thursday.

The East Street South resident was being held in connection with the country’s 68th homicide.

In the wake of the most recent escape, many questioned how criminals are able to wiggle their way out of lawful custody.

ACP Hulan Hanna recently told the media that the escapes could be linked to problems with hospital infrastructure or negligence on the part of police or prison officers.

Mr. Hanna announced last week that ACP Leon Bethel would head a special investigation to determine how Defrend managed to escape.

ACP Bethel updated the media Sunday on the progress of his investigation.

“Whenever something goes wrong in the execution of police duty, someone must be held accountable. Anyone who may have contributed to this man not being in custody at this time will be disciplined. Defrend needs to be back in custody and he needs to answer to some questions relative to the matter for which he was initially in custody for,” ACP Bethel said.

It was back on June 2 that another murder suspect escaped from police custody.

Following that escape, the hospital introduced a new security policy; however, that new security policy failed to prevent Defrend’s escape.

Unraveled by the failed new security policy ACP Ferguson told the Bahama Journal that the force is pleased with the security arrangement that has been introduced.

He said the hunt for Defrend his progressing.

“We have been doing everything that we possibly can to locate this suspect. We are encouraged by the information that we are getting and we will continue to follow this information until we capture the suspect. We have significant leads that we are following,” ACP Ferguson said.

He warned the general public about the dangers and consequences of harbouring a criminal.

“People ought to know that when a person is the subject of a police investigation, especially matters involving serious crimes, we encourage the public not to harbour these persons that they know may have committed these serious crimes. We want them to do the right thing and step forward and telephone police,” ACP Ferguson said.