Prisoner Escapes

(asked on 24th October 2014) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the longest time is that any prisoner has been on the run in the last 30 years; for what offence that prisoner was sentenced; what the length of that sentence was; and how long that prisoner had served before absconding.


Answered by
Andrew Selous Portrait
Andrew Selous
Second Church Estates Commissioner
This question was answered on 29th October 2014

Detailed records of offenders who are unlawfully at large have only been maintained since April 2004. It is not possible therefore to provide details of any prisoner who has been unlawfully at large before this period or to specify the longest period of absence.

The number of escapes, absconds and temporary release failures has fallen over the last two decades. When a prisoner becomes unlawfully at large he or she is immediately reported to police to locate and apprehend. Unlawfully at large prisoners are often recaptured and returned to custody quickly, and over 97% of prisoners who absconded between April 2004 and March 2014 have been returned to custody. Absconds are taken very seriously. Re-captured prisoners will be returned to a more secure closed prison and will face either a criminal prosecution or an internal adjudication in prison in front of a visiting judge. In either case they can receive additional time in prison.

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