Convicted offender escapes Bremen forensic ward, police warn public not to approach

Escape and manhunt

Police said a 49-year-old man broke out of the forensic ward of Klinikum Bremen-Ost during the night to Sunday, 8 November. Kaan Hayrat, as police named him, had been held there under a court order after his conviction, and he had no leave at the time. As of early Monday, 9 November, the search was still under way, and Frank Passade, a spokesman for the Bremen prosecutor's office, said there were no indications of where he might be. How he got out is still being investigated, and the prosecutor's office was due to take over the case from Monday. A photograph of the suspect has been published online as part of the wanted notice.

Police warning and description

Police have explicitly warned people not to speak to him or approach him. Anyone who spots him is asked to keep a distance and contact emergency services. Police describe him as about 1.75 metres tall and slim, with brown eyes, brown hair and three-day stubble. He was last reported wearing a brown quilted vest with a hood, a blue shirt and black patent leather shoes. Police regard him as dangerous, and he had been committed to the ward because of serious offences.

Background: custody dispute and arson

In December 2019 the Landgericht Bremen sentenced him to ten years in prison for serious arson and dangerous bodily harm, and it ordered his placement in a psychiatric facility. The court heard that he had a severe paranoid personality disorder. According to the reports, he began a campaign of revenge after a custody dispute, setting seven fires from August 2017 onward. One fire hit the car of the family judge who had taken custody of the daughter away from him, and the flames spread to the judge's house, where the judge, his wife and three small children narrowly escaped. Cars belonging to several lawyers from his circle also burned. In 2018 he seriously injured an unknown man with knife stabs, reportedly because that man had spoken to his teenage daughter.

The 2019 pit and the 2024 call

In January 2019 investigators found a hole about 1.60 metres deep near a landfill, which he had dug, according to the regional magazine buten un binnen of Radio Bremen. Police at the time assumed he meant to bury his ex-wife and his daughter there. The court later found that the pit was at least intended for his divorced wife, and he was arrested in February 2019. In 2024, while in forensic commitment, he reportedly phoned at least one person and said he had 'not forgotten' them, a remark the recipient understood as a threat.

Open questions

Authorities have not said how the man got out of the ward, and prosecutors have stated that he had no leave at the time. None of the reports describe a sighting since the escape. The prosecutor's office in Bremen is taking over the case from Monday, 9 November.