Escapee caught hanging about outside his prison

A man loitering around an open prison was an escaped inmate, a court heard.

Anthony Cooke was spotted near HMP Standford Hill on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent on March 26.

He made a “half-hearted” attempt to flee when an officer arrived, having absconded from jail three hours earlier.

Cooke was jailed in 2012 after a double-shooting robbery attempt on a tattoo parlour in Maidenhead, Berks.

He was handed an indeterminate sentence with a tariff of nine years.

Cooke pleaded guilty to escape from lawful custody at Maidstone Crown Court, Kent, on Friday and was given another two months on his sentence.