Prisoner on run for four months is jailed for two

5:03pm Saturday 10th May 2008

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A PRISONER who escaped and went on the run for four months has had two extra months added to his sentence as punishment.

Ryan Byrne absconded from Thorn Cross Young Offenders' Institution just before Christmas last year.

Prosecutors are unsure of the exact date, but he was discovered missing on the morning of Christmas Eve.

He was not found again until April 19, when police stopped a car he was in. Byrne gave them a false name.

His true identity was revealed when police took him and the driver of the car to Runcorn custody suite for a drugs search, which revealed he was carrying a small amount of cannabis.

Police fingerprinted Byrne and realised there was a warrant out for his arrest.

His defence barrister told the court that Byrne's stint in Thorn Cross had been his first in custody, even though it was his third conviction, for supplying cocaine, that put him there.

Byrne, aged 19, had been brought up by his grandparents and he had a "troubled background", the court heard.

While at Thorn Cross he heard that his grandfather had become seriously ill and asked to be able to see him, but prison guidelines only allow home visits to see members of immediate family.

Two weeks later Byrne, from Hutchinson Walk, Liverpool, escaped from the prison.

He was at large for four months, but there was no evidence he committed any further crimes, his lawyer said.

Byrne has since been in Altcourse Prison, Liverpool.

His barrister said Byrne was happier there as "he is surrounded by people he knows and who come from the area he lives in".

His Honour Judge Teague said he accepted that Byrne had committed no further crime, and sentenced him to three months extra imprisonment. Because he pleaded guilty to escape he was entitled to a third off his sentence, so he will spend an additional two months in custody.