Murderers are among thousands on the run
TWENTY one convicted murderers who should be back in jail after breaching the conditions of their early release are on the run.
They are among nearly 2,000 convicts – including rapists – who fled before they could be recalled. Some have been at large since 1984.
Ministry of Justice figures show 21 convicted murderers who absconded have never been caught, along with a further seven convicted of manslaughter.
A total of 60 sex offenders, including 19 rapists, remain at large, while there are a further 302 with convictions for violence, and 668 convicted of robbery, burglary or theft, still wanted.
The remaining 895 are wanted for recall after convictions for drugs, fraud, motoring and other offences – bringing the total number of absconders to 1,953.
Prisoners are on licence when they are released early from prison.
Breaching the conditions of the licence means they have to serve the remainder of their jail term.
For those sentenced to life, which includes all murders, this should mean returning to their life term.
The figures were obtained by Tory MP for Shipley Philip Davies.
He said: “Even someone as hardened as me to how weak our criminal justice system is was shocked by these statistics. I hope this acts as a wake-up call to get something done.”
David Spender, from think tank the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “The law-abiding will rightly be worried that so many serious convicted criminals who should be in prison are free to roam the streets.
“While losing track of a few might be understandable, to lose almost 2,000 is utterly unacceptable, especially when you consider the serious offences many should be serving time for. No stone should be left unturned in our efforts to hunt them down and return them to their rightful place behind bars.”
The figures do not include new absconders this year, such as Nathan Warburton, 26, from Bristol.
On Friday, Avon and Somerset police revealed he is wanted on recall to prison after failing to comply with the conditions of his licence.