§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will call for a report from the governor of Sudbury open prison on the escape of John Pritchard and the speed with which a photograph and other identification information was passed to the police; and if he will make a statement on the circumstances of the escape of John Pritchard from the custody of Her Majesty's Prison Service. [27159]
§ Mr. Michael ForsythResponsibility for this matter have been delegated to the Director General of the Prison Service, who has been asked to arrange for a reply to be given.
183WLetter from Derek Lewis to Mr. Mike O'Brien, dated 7 June 1995:
The Home Secretary has asked me to reply to your recent Question about the abscond of John Pritchard from Sudbury open prison and the speed with which a photograph and other identification information was passed to the police.Mr. Pritchard was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder in 1979 and had been at Foston Hall, a satellite wing of Sudbury open prison, since September 1993 where he had behaved well.On 9 May 1995 Mr. Pritchard was missing from the routine lunchtime roll check and could not be found on the subsequent search of the building and grounds. Derbyshire police headquarters at Ripley was informed at 2.15 pm and a constable from the local police station collected photographs and personal details of Mr. Pritchard from Sudbury at 4 pm.Mr. Pritchard remains unlawfully at large.