Escaped ’violent’ British prisoner Mark Roscaleer recaptured in Portugal
Mark Roscaleer was one of five men who escaped Vale de Judeus Prison Alcoentre near Lisbon - We’ll be bringing you the very latest updates, pictures and video on this breaking news story.
A violent Brit inmate who sparked an international manhunt after escaping a Portuguese jail five months ago has been arrested on the Costa Blanca.
Mark Roscaleer has been wanted for five months after fleeing the Vale de Judeus Prison Alcoentre near Lisbon along with four other men on September 7. The thug had been serving a nine-year sentence for kidnap and robbery.
Portuguese authorities announced on Thursday that Roscaleer, originally from Runcorn, Cheshire, had been arrested in Alicante alongside an Argentinian called Rodolfo Lohrmann who also escaped prison with him. The dangerous Brit had been seen on CCTV after the escape, carried out by scaling a wall with a ladder while helped by accomplices from outside.
Roscaleer had also previously been busted attempting a jailbreak back in 2019, when he smothered his body in oil to squeeze through bars. He and Lohrmann are the final two from last September’s escape to be recaptured. The convicted burglar was jailed in March 2019 for the horrific torture of a man.
Distressing details were heard in the trial at an Algarve court how Roscaleer tortured his 45-year-old male victim, using a battery cable clamp on the man’s nipple and penis and forced to reveal where he kept thousands of pounds in cash at his home. He and accomplice Robert George Anthony Wood, then 20, were extradited over the 2018 incident after being found to be in Spain.
The Police Judiciaria police force said in a statement: “The last two escapees from Vale de Judeus Prison, Rodolfo Jose Lohrmann, 59, and Mark Cameron Roscaleer, 35, were arrested today in Alicante, Spain, by the Spanish National Police, after persistent and uninterrupted work by the PJ to gather and exchange information with the Spanish authorities.
“The two men had been on the run since September 7 2024. Since then, the PJ had been gathering information that enabled them to locate the fugitives in southern Spain.”
Roscaleer has an illustrious criminal history, having been jailed in March 2014 for burgling a pub in Ellesmere Port in May 2012. Along with an accomplice, Roscaleer stole £6,300 after carrying a claw hammer and ordering a licensee to hand over the contents of a safe, threatening to "smash your skull in".
The PJ added: “The British citizen, Mark Cameron Roscaleer, has a record of committing particularly violent crimes, such as robbery with a firearm and kidnapping. He was serving a 9-year prison sentence, with his incarceration dating from May 10 2019. Both fugitives were subject to international arrest warrants issued by the competent judicial authority and were listed in Interpol’s red notice.”
Reports in Portugal said Roscaleer and Lohrmann, who was serving a 20-year sentence and has an extensive criminal career, had already begun to work together in a criminal gang before they were recaptured. It was not immediately clear if they had been located and arrested in the city of Alicante or elsewhere in the wider province of the same name.
Portugal’s Justice Minister Rita Judice said news of the arrests was "very gratifying". “This success is proof of the trust that citizens should have in our police,” she said.
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