The mother of a missing Scottish woman, Lisa Brown, has expressed her deep disappointment and frustration following the recent escape of yet another prisoner from HMP Sudbury. This latest incident has cast a shadow over the security measures within the open prison.
Last year, Helen Jordan was left in shock when Dean Woods, a prisoner convicted of drug trafficking and also suspected of involvement in her daughter Lisa Brown’s disappearance, absconded from HMP Sudbury. Thankfully, Woods was captured earlier this year in Germany. Ms. Jordan has now voiced her concerns, saying, “It’s absolutely disgraceful that this is still happening in this so-called prison. Yet again, more police resources are being used to catch these criminals. There should be a major inquiry about what’s going on here.”
HMP Sudbury, originally constructed as a hospital for the US Air Force during the D-Day landings and converted into a prison in 1948, is classified as a Category D jail. The facility currently includes 18 dormitories, each accommodating between 10 and 32 prisoners, along with 80 temporary modular units known as ‘pods,’ featuring ensuite facilities, installed in September 2020. Additionally, plans are underway to open two new accommodation blocks by the end of 2023, capable of housing 60 prisoners.
A recent report assessed the security arrangements at HMP Sudbury as proportionate for an open prison. However, it revealed that there had been 11 absconds in the previous 12 months and over 20 in the past two years—numbers higher than most other open prisons. Consequently, investigations into each abscond have been completed, and authorities are currently reviewing the local abscond strategy to address known areas of risk.
This alarming situation follows a case in 2021 where a prison officer was sentenced for assisting her lover in escaping from HMP Dovegate in Staffordshire. Erica Whittingham, who had formed a relationship with inmate Michael Seddon while working at the prison, pleaded guilty to harbouring an escaped prisoner and misconduct in public office. Whittingham, hailing from Bramshall, Uttoxeter, was subsequently sentenced to three years in jail.
These repeated incidents of prisoners absconding raise serious concerns about the overall security and management of prisons. It is crucial that thorough investigations take place and that appropriate actions are implemented to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future.
