Five things we know about escaped prisoners as public warned not to approach
Two prisoners remain on the run from a jail two days after slipping the net, with authorities warning Brits not to approach either.
Joshua Lewis Terry and Levi Mitchell were still at large on Monday, police said, after absconding from HM Hollseley Bay - a prison in Suffolk. Detectives are searching for both after they were reported missing on Saturday evening.
Terry, 29, is described as being 6ft 2inches tall with ginger hair and blue eyes. He is of a thin build with stubble facial hair. He also has a tattoo on his lower arm of a star. Mitchell meanwhile has been described as being 5ft 10inches tall with ginger hair and blue eyes. He is of a slight build with goatee. He also has a birthmark on his left arm and hand.
Here is everything we know so far about the pair.
1. Police believe they are together
Terry and Mitchell are understood to have skipped jail together. The pair are originally from different parts of the country, although it's not known whether or not they knew one another outside of prison.
Abandoned prison which caged dangerous cartel killers found by urban explorer
Terry is originally from Norfolk, while Mitchell is from the Hertfordshire area. A spokesperson for Suffolk Police said the pair were "believed to have absconded together".
Joshua Terry, is thought to have fled alongside Mitchell (Suffolk Police)
Levi Mitchell, 39, is thought to have fled alongside Terry (Suffolk Police)2. Pair serving time for burglary and attack
Terry and Mitchell were serving prison sentences for burglary and affray, police have revealed. Terry was previously jailed over an attack on a man involving a weapon.
The 29-year-old was previously jailed for two years and four months for affray, threatening a person with a blade or sharply pointed article in a public place, and theft. Mitchell was in jail over multiple burglary offences.
3. Disappearance coincides with third inmate absconding
The pair were reported missing at around 7pm on Saturday, just hours after another prisoner at Hollseley Bay failed to return. Aidan McGuinness was reported missing just before 9.20am while serving his three-year sentence for theft, fraud and drug possession.
McGuinness, from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, is described as being 5ft 10inches tall with brown hair and blue eyes. He is of a thin build with a clean-shaven face and has a ‘Zara’ tattoo on his left wrist. Suffolk Police said he speaks with a slight northern accent.
A spokesperson for the force told The Mirror on Monday they were not aware of any immediate link between McGuinness' disappearance to Terry and Mitchell's. Anyone with information on McGuinness' whereabouts is also urged to contact the force.
Aidan McGuinness is also missing from the prison after absconding on the same day (Suffolk Police)4. Both fled open prison
HM Hollseley Bay is a Category D open jail for low-security offenders. Open jail means inmates serve their sentence without walls, guards or bars.
Incarcerated criminals in open prisons are not kept in cells all day and are free to roam the building, carrying out tasks and even rehabilitation workshops. As a result, jailbreaks are more common from low-security prisons as there is less supervision.
A Prison Service spokesperson said many inmates who have been in tighter-security jails are sometimes moved to open prisons before release to be rehabilitated before returning to normal life. They said: "Category D prisoners are those assessed as presenting a low risk and can be managed securely in lower security conditions."
5. Ministry of Justice 'urgently working' to track pair
The MoJ said it was aware of the pair's disappearance and was working with police to track down both inmates. They stressed incidents like there were "incredibly rare" and declined from 269 in 2009-2010 to 95 in 2021-2022.
Butcher breast surgeon could have hundreds more victims after old database found
A spokesperson said: “HMP Hollesley Bay is urgently working with police to recapture the offenders. All prisoners in Category D jails are robustly risk-assessed and absconds have more than halved since 2010, but we punish offenders who do and put them back behind bars,” a spokesperson for the prison service said.
"Open conditions are an important means of furthering the rehabilitation of offenders, especially those who have spent many years in closed conditions, preparing them for eventual release to help cut reoffending and protect the public." The spokesperson added: "Prisoners held in open jails must abide by stringent conditions and we do not hesitate to move them back to tougher, closed conditions if they breach the rules. If an offender fails in an open prison, they are excluded from returning to an open prison for at least two years."
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
