ARMED ROBBER IN JAIL BREAK
PUBLIC WARNED NOT TO APPROACH TATTOOED THUG
AN urgent manhunt has been launched to catch a convicted armed robber who has fled prison.
Police have warned people not to approach John Hardy, from Little Hulton, Salford, but to ring them urgently.
Hardy, now aged 27, was jailed in 2009 for a string of terrifying armed robberies in the Farnworth and Westhoughton areas of Bolton.
He was also serving a sentence imposed a year later in Manchester for burglary offences.
Police in Lancashire said Hardy – who has two distinctive tattoos – was reported missing from HMP Kirkham, a Category D open prison in Lancashire, between 5pm and 8.30pm on Thursday.
A spokesman for Lancashire Police said: “John Hardy left HMP Kirkham and has not been seen since. Anybody who sees him, or knows where he may be, is asked not to approach him, but to contact us as soon as possible to let us know his whereabouts.”
Hardy is described as white, around 5ft 10ins and slim. He has blue eyes, shaven brown hair and various tattoos on his right arm, including a man’s name and a smiley face. Hardy led a gang armed with axes, machetes and knives who terrorised shop workers in a series of violent robberies committed between January 2008 and March 2009.
Bookmakers, convenience stores and clothing stores in and around Farnworth were targeted, with members of staff threatened with knives and machetes.
Hardy was given an indeterminate sentence by a judge at Bolton Crown Court after being found guilty of six counts of armed robbery and one count of burglary. He was told he must serve a minimum of four-and-a-half years before he could even be considered for release.
Lancashire Police said he was further sentenced for burglary dealt with at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court in 2010. As well as Salford, Hardy also has connections to Manchester, police said. Detectives believe he could have travelled into Manchester. No further details about his escape have been revealed by the force. HMP Kirkham is a category D training prison on the site of a former RAF base.
The police spokesman said: “Anybody with information is asked to contact police by emailing westintelunit@lancashire.pnn. police.uk or calling 101, quoting log number 1520, of August 24.”