§ Mr. Menzies CampbellTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many prisoners have escaped from(a) police custody and (b) penal institutions in the last 10 years for which information is available.
§ Lord James Douglas-HamiltonThe number of escapes from police custody is not held centrally.
The numbers of escapes and absconds from penal establishments over the last 10 years are as follows:
712W
Absconds Escapes 1982 32 14 1983 38 16 1984 52 19
Absconds Escapes 1985 36 39 1986 43 7 1987 41 24 1988 75 30 1989 65 20 1990 88 27 1991 150 36 19921 54 19 1 to date The definitions of escape and abscond are that a prisoner escapes if he unlawfully gains his liberty by overcoming the physical security restraints to which he is subject at the time he was in the presence of a prison officer or officers specially assigned to guard him: a prisoner absconds if he unlawfully gains his liberty by an abuse of trust without having had to overcome any physical security restraint and if he was not at the time in the presence of a prison officer specially assigned to guard him.