2,000 escaped prisoners are still on the run
As many as 2,000 criminals have escaped from jail under Labour without being recaptured, the Home Office admitted last night.
• Prison overcrowding 'has led to 11,000 criminals going free'
In yet another blow for Home Secretary John Reid, the department conceded a huge miscalculation over the number of convicts who have absconded from open jails.
Ministers had previously told Parliament there had been 7,105 escapes since April 1997.
But Prisons Minister Gerry Sutcliffe last night said this was wrong - the true figure is 7,875, or 10 per cent higher.
And he revealed that a quarter of the escapees were not recaptured within 12 months of going on the run.
The Home Office has no idea if any were caught after their first year as a fugitive, as it does not bother to check - which leaves up to 1,970 potentially at large.
There was suspicion among MPs over the way the mistake was admitted. Details were only revealed late yesterday, after most had departed back to their constituencies for a week's break.
Shadow Home Secretary David Davis said: "It is shocking that there have been 2,000 escapees on the run for over a year.
"It adds insult to injury to the public that, having issued a revised figure, they still cannot give an accurate figure for recaptures."
Ministers have been criticised over the number of escapes from open jails, amid claims more and more serious offenders are being sent there due to prison overcrowding.
Those who have gone on the run include rapists and murderers.
It has led to written questions from concerned MPs. But the Home Office is now admitting that its replies misled Parliament and the public.
Mr Sutcliffe said previous information was "incorrect in several respects" and said accurate figures were "only available at disproportionate cost".
In a statement to Mr Davis last night, who was himself given inaccurate information, Mr Sutcliffe went on: "I apologise for the inaccuracy of the original answer, as does the director general of the Prison Service."
