Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 21 November to Question 88985 on Prisoner Escapes, how many of the 55 people that escaped from custody in the past 5 years received a custodial sentence for that offence.

Data is available for those who were still at large having escaped from custody as of 1 May of each year.

Escapes from custody includes where an offender flees during a court appearance, when being escorted from court to prison and in extremely rare circumstances, directly from prison.

The vast majority were recaptured by police either immediately or within a matter of hours. Offenders who break the law will be punished – including extra time in jail when appropriate – and sentencing is a matter for the independent judiciary who consider the facts of each case.

Of the 55 escape incidents, 42 are known to have led to a custodial sentence (of which, 2 were suspended sentences). For the remaining 13 the individuals are either still at large or do not yet have a sentence recorded centrally for this offence.