89 inmates on the run from open prison in UK

Nearly 90 prisoners are on the run from an open jail, including some who have been missing for years, it has been revealed.

HMP Ford near Arundel in West Sussex, with some other open jails, has been at the centre of a number of high-profile cases recently.

This week it emerged that a public appeal by Sussex Police to help trace murderer Robert Donovan (57) had only been made four years after he walked out from Ford.

The disclosure that 89 Ford inmates are at large comes as it emerged that violent robber Simon Rhodes-Butler (37) handed himself into police last night after fleeing from the jail last month.

And in another case, it was revealed last night that an armed robber serving a life sentence has become the latest criminal to go on the run from HMP Ford.

David Blood (48) who police said may pose a threat to the public, absconded from the Category D prison some time between 8.30am and 1pm yesterday.

It is thought to be the second time he has absconded from an open prison after going missing from HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire in April 2012.

Sussex Police said the average number of prisoners who have absconded from HMP Ford in recent years stands at 23 annually, but that currently 89 are at large.

Of those 89 still missing, eight have convictions for violence.

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.”

PA