A convicted murderer has gone on the run after escaping from Pentonville Prison.

John Massey, 64, was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a man at a pub in Hackney in 1975.

He made off from the jail in Islington at around 6.30pm yesterday, the Met Police said.

It has not yet been revealed how Massey escaped from Pentonville, but an investigation is due to be launched by the Prison Service.

Police have advised members of the public not to approach the “potentially dangerous” offender and instead call 999 if he is spotted.

According to reports, Massey was released on parole in June 2007 after spending the last 18 months of his life sentence in an open prison in Derbyshire preparing for freedom.

Under his parole terms he was ordered to live in a bail hostel in Streatham, south London, under a curfew.

After several months he broke his curfew and spent a number of days living with his dying father, according to the Guardian.

He was immediately recalled to prison but was later sent to Ford open jail in West Sussex.

Massey reportedly walked out of the prison after hearing that his sister was gravely ill. He was rearrested 10 months later and taken to Pentonville before his latest escape.

Anyone with information of Massey’s whereabouts is asked to call police on 020 7421 0296, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.