This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27465295
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Man held in missing prisoners hunt | Man held in missing prisoners hunt |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Police searching for two prisoners who absconded while out on day release from prison have made an arrest. | Police searching for two prisoners who absconded while out on day release from prison have made an arrest. |
| Arnold Pickering, 44, from Greater Manchester, and Thomas Moffett, 51, from Blackburn, failed to return to Kennet Prison in Liverpool on Saturday. | Arnold Pickering, 44, from Greater Manchester, and Thomas Moffett, 51, from Blackburn, failed to return to Kennet Prison in Liverpool on Saturday. |
| Police said a 51-year-old man was arrested in Blackburn at 21:15 BST on Sunday for being unlawfully at large. | |
| The government said changes to the temporary release system would be made "as a matter of urgency". | |
| Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said: "I am not prepared to see public safety compromised. | |
| "The system for allowing prisoners out on temporary licence has been too lax up till now and we are making major changes to address this. | |
| "In light of recent incidents, I have tasked officials with implementing these changes as a matter of urgency." | |
| 'Absolute scandal' | |
| Pickering was jailed for life in 1991 after killing a man in Oldham. It is the third time he has gone on the run. | |
| He last absconded in December 2009 when he was let out on day release from HMP Kirkham to take part in a Prison Service project in which prisoners emptied bins for Manchester City Council. | |
| In that case he handed himself in four days later in Motherwell, Scotland. | |
| Pickering also previously escaped from Strangeways in Manchester before he went on to stab a man to death in Oldham in 1990. He was given a life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years. | |
| Merseyside Police said both men left the Category C prison in Maghull at about 09:00 BST on Saturday on day release and had been due back at 16:30 BST. | |
| The disappearances come weeks after Michael Wheatley, 55, known as the "Skull Cracker" was charged with carrying out an armed robbery after allegedly going on the run from an open prison in Kent. | |
| Shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan expressed concern that public safety was being put at risk through the release of the wrong prisoners. | |
| "This further incident, coming only a matter of weeks after the Michael Wheatley fiasco, will cause the public huge concern," he said. | |
| Conservative backbencher Philip Davies, the MP for Shipley, "It is an absolute scandal in the prison system. How on earth people like this can ever be given temporary release from prison on licence is beyond me." |