Prisoner Escapes
(asked on 7th September 2021) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many prisoners have (a) escaped from prison vans and (b) remain on the run set out by offences convicted and length of custodial sentence in each year since 2010.
A prisoner escapes when they are able to pass beyond the perimeter of a secure prison or the control of HMPPS escorting staff.
These offences are monitored closely to identify any trends and each incident is fully investigated to prevent future incidents and keep the public safe. Prisoners who escape or abscond can face extra time in prison.
Please see data below for (a) the number of prisoners who escaped from prison vans/vehicles and (b) remain on the run set out by offences convicted and length of custodial sentence in England and Wales from the 12 months ending 2011 to the 12 months ending March 2021. To note ‘vehicles’ includes all vehicles that an escape occurs from, not just prison escort vans.
Number of Escapes1 from Vehicles2, by main offence type at the time of escape, in England and Wales, 12 months ending March 2011 to 12 months ending March 2021
| 12 Months to March |
| |||||||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
|
Offence Type |
|
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|
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|
|
|
|
|
Violence against the person |
| 2 |
| 1 |
|
| 1 |
| 1 |
|
| 5 |
|
Robbery |
| 1 |
| 1 | 1 |
| 1 |
| 1 |
|
| 5 |
|
Theft offences |
| 1 |
| 1 |
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
| 3 |
|
Miscellaneous crimes against society |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
| 1 |
|
Summary non-motoring |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
Offence not recorded3 |
| 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
|
| 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 11 |
|
Total | 0 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 26 |
|
Note:
1 There were 26 escapes from vehicles between April 2010 and March 2021. None of the escapees currently remain at large as a result of these incidents.
2 "Vehicles" includes all vehicles that an escape occurred from, not just prison escort vans.
3 Escapees who were untried at the time of the escape have there offence not recorded as they were not convicted at the time of the incident.
Data Sources and Quality:
These figures have been drawn from the prison-NOMIS and HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.
Number of Escapes1 from Vehicles2 by custody type3,4,5 in England and Wales, 12 months ending March 2011 to 12 months ending March 2021
| 12 months to March |
| ||||||||||
| 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | Total |
Total |
| 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 1 | 26 |
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|
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Remand |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 13 |
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|
|
|
|
|
|
Untried |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 1 | 1 |
|
| 1 | 10 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Convicted unsentenced |
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Sentenced |
| 4 |
| 2 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 1 |
|
| 11 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Determinate sentence |
| 2 |
|
| 1 |
|
| 1 |
|
|
| 4 |
Less than 6 months |
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
6 months |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
Greater than 6 months to less than 12 months |
| 0 | ||||||||||
12 months to less than 4 years |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
| 1 |
4 years or more |
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
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Indeterminate Sentences |
| 2 |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
| 3 |
IPP |
| 2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 2 |
Life |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Recalls |
|
|
| 2 |
|
|
| 1 | 1 |
|
| 4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Not recorded/unknown |
| 1 |
|
|
|
|
|
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
Notes
1 There were 26 escapes from vehicles between April 2010 and March 2021. None of the escapees currently remain at large as a result of these incidents.
2 Vehicles includes all vehicles that an escape occurred from, not just prison escort vans.
3 This table shows the custody type and judicially impose sentence length for the prisoner at the time of the incident.
4 As administrative data is used to extract this informaiton, it is not possible to calculate the amount of time the prisoner has or will serve in custody. Where an individual has been sentenced, the judiciall imposed sentence length covers the full sentence length (in days) given to the prisoner, including any time spent on probation after the custodial part of the sentence has been served.
5 Data pre-2015 was taken from a different data source, and as such is not directly comparable with data for 2015 onwards.
Data Sources and Quality:
These figures have been drawn from the prison-NOMIS and HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.