89 prisoners are currently on the run from the open prison HMP Ford, near Arundel, Sussex Police have warned.
The figure was released after yesterday’s arrest of Simon Rhodes-Butler, a convicted armed robber, who is among 24 inmates of HMP Ford that police have returned to custody in recent weeks, which leaves 89 still on the run.
Superintendent Lawrence Hobbs, of Sussex Police, said:
“I want to reassure people that we recognised some time ago that our processes needed improving.
“We have taken some really positive action and have a team working on this issue.
“We are confident that in the main the risk to the public is low, as that’s why they were in an open prison. Of the 89 outstanding, only eight have convictions for violence and we are prioritising our efforts to trace and arrest them.
“We value the support of the media and the public in helping us to find these absconders and we are absolutely determined to find all those still at large.”
