Police catch escaped sex offenders
Sex offenders escape from open prison
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Sunday, 30, Jul 2006 07:36
Gwent police have apprehended and returned to jail two convicted child rapists who escaped two days ago from an open jail in south Wales.
John Elms, 34, and Martin Aspinall, 46, were caught by police after a member of the public spotted them five miles away from Prescoed prison in Monmouthshire.
Police had been concentrating their search efforts, which included the use of sniffer dogs and helicopters, on the other side of the town, according to media reports.
The two men were noticed to be missing from the jail on Friday evening and were believed to have absconded sometime between 17:00 BST and 19:45 BST.
Local MP David Davies has pressed the prison authorities to apologise for the incident and ensure that any other sex offenders are transferred from the open prison, which has been subject to several prisoner escapes.
"This has happened half a dozen times since the policy of putting dangerous paedophiles into an open prison was instigated," said Mr Davies.
"I think the governor and the government should apologise about this policy. They have got it wrong," he added.
The absconding of the two criminals drew protests from the local community, furious that officials at Prescoed jail had allowed the prisoners, who are both serving life sentences for raping young girls, to escape.