An open prison which allowed a murderer serving a life sentence to walk out of its doors a month ago has been exposed in the past for “lax security”.

Derek Passmore, formerly of Robin Hood Lane, Kingston, left Ford Prison on day release on Saturday, June 22, and has not been seen since.

The 48-year-old was sent to prison for a minimum of 14 years after beating to death Paul Craig, 34, who was crippled was arthritis, in Hampton in October 1996.

But he was later sent to the category D open jail, three miles south of Arundel. The prison is saved for offenders who have a low risk of absconding and a low risk to the public.

It is not clear whether he absconded from the prison grounds or failed to return from a trip out of the prison. Offenders are given time out of the prison to prepare for the return to civilian life.

A Sun journalist broke into the prison in 2011 and chatted to inmates as they allegedly drank vodka and brandy, smoked cannabis and texted on illicit mobile phones.

The newspaper said the break in “illustrated perfectly the woeful level of security” just weeks after masked prisoners went on a New Year’s Day drunken, drug-fuelled rampage and torched buildings causing £5m of damage.

The Ministry of Justice was warned about staffing concerns a fortnight before the riot.

It was reported that two officers and four support staff on the night shift were in charge of almost 500 prisoners.

A report published by Ford’s Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) in 2011 said it had concerns about staffing, alcohol being smuggled in and the availability of a drug known as Spice.

The IMB said since the riot there were still areas of concern but improvements had been made and the perimeter fence had been replaced with higher fencing.

IMB member Charles Pinner said prisoners often absconded when bureaucracy delayed their release from prison.

But he said his impression was that the number of prisoners absconding were lower than in past years.