West Midlands police arrest man after prison ambush Detectives hunting an "extremely dangerous" murder suspect who escaped from a prison van following a "well-orchestrated armed ambush" have arrested a man in connection with the incident. Officers from West Midlands police detained the suspect on Monday night just hours after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, ordered an inquiry into how John Anslow was able to be sprung from custody despite being classed as a highly dangerous category A prisoner. The 31-year-old, who is at the centre of an international manhunt, escaped after a gang of three masked men stopped a prison van, smashed its windows with sledgehammers and punched its driver as it was taking inmates from Hewell prison in Redditch, Worcestershire, to Stafford crown court on Monday morning. Instead of being transferred in a high-security prison service van with a police escort, Anslow was with other inmates in a van run by a private contractor. His status was only upgraded last week after he was charged with the murder of businessman Richard Deakin. Detectives hunting for Anslow executed five search warrants in the Tipton area of the West Midlands and arrested a man in connection with the suspected killer's escape. Detective Superintendent Martin Evans of Staffordshire police said: "We have [been] working closely with colleagues in the West Midlands and West Mercia police forces to help investigate the escape of John Anslow. The searches of these addresses is just one element of this fast-moving investigation. Anslow was due to be taken to a category A prison rather than back to Hewell prison, which was designed for lower risk category B, C and D inmates, after his court hearing, but he was sprung from custody at around 8.20am. He is the first category A prisoner to escape from custody in more than 17 years. The inquiry ordered by Clarke on Monday will consider Anslow's security categorisation and the "management of the prisoner so that we can learn lessons for the future," he said. Category A status is reserved for prisoners whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, police or security, and for whom the aim is to make escape impossible. Anslow is the first such prisoner to escape since 1995, when Matthew Williams, serving a life sentence for planting a bomb, administering poisons and arson, was among three men who escaped from Parkhurst jail on the Isle of Wight. Detectives warned Anslow was "extremely dangerous" and should not be approached by the public. Three masked men, including two armed with sledgehammers, used a silver Volkswagen Scirocco to stop the prison van shortly after it left the prison. The guards were threatened with a blade, and the driver punched, in Hewell Lane, Tardebigge, before Anslow escaped. Police believe the gang then switched to a silver Mercedes car, with the partial registration KR11, in Stoney Lane, Bromsgrove, soon after the attack. Evans said Anslow, who was also known as Skitz, had strong connections across the country, including London and overseas. Officers are working with all police forces, the UK Border Agency (UKBA) and authorities abroad to track him down, and all airports and railway stations were alerted. He was described as white, 5ft 10in tall, medium build, with short, straight, dark brown hair. Detective Inspector Jon Marsden, of West Mercia police, added that Anslow was one of five men charged with the murder of Deakin, who was shot dead in Staffordshire in 2010. Deakin, 27, died after being shot while alone at his home in Meadway Street, Chasetown, on 5 July 5 2010. Police launched various appeals for information following his death, including a feature on the BBC's Crimewatch programme, and a £20,000 reward was offered for information about his killing. Officers said his family were "shocked" by the escape. Prisoner escort firm GEO Amey confirmed two of its staff were treated by paramedics at the scene of the attack after both were threatened by the gang and one suffered facial injuries. Two other prisoners who were also in the van were not released. One local resident, near the jail in rural Worcestershire said he wanted to know how the men knew which van to target. Speaking outside his home, the man, who did not want to be named, said: "What I want to know is how did they know he was in that van? Many leave on a Monday. There would have been two or three behind it. Last July, the trial of an alleged criminal gang that used guns and grenades to intimidate its rivals collapsed after two defendants escaped from a prison van on the edge of Manchester city centre. And in September 2006, a "violent and dangerous" criminal escaped from a prison van in Redditch after being helped by two masked men armed with a gun. Two men wearing balaclavas, or with their faces covered, used a firearm to threaten staff in a security van taking the prisoner back to Blakenhurst prison following an appearance before magistrates in Redditch. Mark Leech, the editor of the national prisoners' newspaper, Converse, described Anslow's escape as a "monumental" mistake by the prison authorities. He said: "This is deeply embarrassing for the Prison Service, whose primary function is security and none more so than the security of category A prisoners. Anslow should never have been in a non-secure van, its the kind of cockup that should never, ever, happen and, make no bones about it, heads should roll for monumental mistakes on this scale.