A “DANGEROUS” man accused over the shotgun murder of Midland dad-of-two Richard Deakin was on the run tonight after being busted out of a prison van in an armed break-out.

John Anslow, aged 31, was sprung from an escort vehicle after three masked men ambushed the driver outside Hewell Grange prison, near Redditch, this morning.

He was being taken to Stafford Crown Court when the incident happened.

Ports and airports were put on alert and the public warned not to approach him as officers from three forces launched a nationwide hunt.

Anslow, from Tipton, was one of five men charged by Staffordshire Police this month with the murder of Richard Deakin, who shot dead as he slept in the bedroom of his home in Chasetown, Staffordshire, in July 2010.

Det Insp Jon Marsden, from West Mercia Police, said: “Anslow has recently been charged with murder and is considered dangerous.

“We are working closely with our colleagues from West Midlands and Staffordshire Police forces and a large number of officers from all three forces are involved in the search for him.

“However we would urge any members of the public who sees him not to approach him directly, but to contact police immediately on 999.”

Anslow, from Tipton in the Black Country, was charged with the murder of Mr Deakin on January 18.

West Mercia Police said the GEO Amey prison escort van had collected three people from HMP Hewell Grange and was a short distance away in Hewell Lane, Tardebigge, near Bromsgrove, when the gang struck.

Three balaclava-clad men, two of them carrying sledgehammers, leapt out of a silver Volkswagen Scirocco, and smashed the windscreen and driver’s window of van.

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