Prisoner walks out in despair at ‘too soft’ jail
A PRISONER told a judge he walked out of Britain’s “softest” open jail because he wanted to be locked up somewhere tougher.
Described as “dangerous”, Gary Spilsbury, 44, was seeing out the last 18 months of his nine-and-a-half-year term for supplying class A drugs and robbery at Kirkham jail in Preston, Lancashire.
Bolton Crown Court heard he was so fed up at the Category D jail, he escaped on December 6 to force a return to his old prison.
He was found by officers two days later, hiding behind a sofa at his son’s home in Bolton.
Paul Dockery, defending, said Spilsbury was transferred to the jail from the more secure Category B Forest Bank prison, near Manchester, in August but found it difficult to adjust.
Mr Dockery said Spilsbury could not get his usual cleaning job at Kirkham.
“So he walked out of the prison thinking the police would come for him and he’d be taken back to Forest Bank,” Mr Dockery added.
Judge Richard Gioserano accepted Spilsbury’s explanation and added two months to his jail term.
He was jailed in May 2014 but after serving time on remand he was due to be released in December 2018.
The judge told Spilsbury, who is back at Forest Bank: “You found the Category D conditions not as favourable but it is not for you to decide where you would rather be.
“It does not give you an excuse to leave the prison at HMP Kirkham as you did.”
HMP Kirkham, the lowest category for an adult male jail, has a record for absconding inmates. Residents have complained. Local councillor Peter Hardy said: “People are worried and rightly so.”