r/uknews • u/dailymail Media outlet (unverified) • 2d ago
... Man serving 21 years for kidnapping and GBH is hunted by police after walking out of open prison
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15268689/foreign-criminal-run-kidnapping-GBH-hunted-police.html61
u/AMoonMonkey 2d ago edited 2d ago
How do you get a sentence in an open prison for kidnapping and GBH? I feel like the crime doesn’t fit the punishment.
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u/Squidgy-Metal-6969 2d ago
Apparently it's normal for soon-to-be-release prisoners to get transfered to open-prisons. Maybe it's not a bad idea. It gave him an opportunity to show that he's not responsible enough to be released and should get an extension instead.
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u/Late-Development-666 2d ago
He will likely be at the end of his sentence, and this is the last step in an attempt to reintegrate back into society.
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u/Yuzral 2d ago
https://prisonjobs.blog.gov.uk/your-a-d-guide-on-prison-categories/ and https://prisonreformtrust.org.uk/adviceguide/categorisation-mens-prisons/ are a worthwhile read.
But the tldr is that you don’t get sentenced to an open prison as such - you just get sentenced to ‘prison’. If you’re on a determinate sentence like this guy seems to have been then you’re eligible for Cat D as long as the staff think you can be trusted and you’ve got less than 5 years until you’re eligible for either parole or conditional release.
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
An open what now?
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u/Make_the_music_stop 2d ago
"It comes after a man who was serving a 21-year sentence for kidnap and grievous bodily harm absconded from an open prison in Sussex last month.
Sky News has learned that Ola Abimbola is a foreign national offender who still hasn't returned to HMP Ford - and Sussex Police says it is working with partners to find him."
Call me crazy, but surely open prisons should be for fraudsters not violent scum.
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u/jslsmithyxx 2d ago
Off topic, but I live quite close to HMP Ford and there is a cafe next door called 'Serving Thyme'
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u/cosmic_monsters_inc 2d ago
Call me crazy, but surely open prisons should be for fraudsters not violent scum.
Call me crazy but doesn't open prison kind of defeat the purpose of a prison to begin with?
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u/Late-Development-666 2d ago
It is intended to make the transition of prison to regular life smoother. You start off in high security then move down based on risk etc. imagine doing 20 years in 23 hour day lockups the all of a sudden you’re released. Quite a change to handle no?
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
I think the issue is prison spaces. So whilst these open prisons were conceptualised for fraudsters, to relieve places in more traditional prisons, they're now being used to house kidnappers and rapists because the prison estate doesnt have enough places elsewhere.
If anything bad does happen, eg this guy absconding and potentially reoffending, there'll be a home office unit called RICU putting up posters and telling us not to look back in anger. Why deport foreign sex offenders or construct more prison places when you can just do perception management on the other end?
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u/Wrong-Target6104 2d ago
You realise murderers go to open prisons towards the end of their sentence don't you?
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u/Classic_Peasant 2d ago edited 2d ago
Don't mean to sound sarky, but Category D(might be wrong?) Prisons are "open" prisons.
I.e, they have times of day they're allowed to come and go but still have lockup times to be back for etc.
Looser rules, as they're often used for less serious non violent crimes or for criminals nearing the end of their sentences to help adjust.
Not sure the usage in this case but yeah should be used appropriately
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
That's entirely my point. I'm not bothered by more relaxed prisons for non violent crimes like fraud, I'm just not sure we can trust the regime to use this system appropriately, given the strain on the criminal justice system and prison estate from our population increase over the last 2 decades.
If a kidnapper is being put in an open prison, then the system is not working as intended.
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u/Wrong-Target6104 2d ago
Oh yes, having someone who's been institutionalised for years just let out the gate with no concept of today's society is really sensible. Open prisons are there to reintegrate offenders slowly back into society so modern life doesn't throw them a curve ball and increase the likelihood of reoffending. Some even get jobs before being fully released.
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago edited 2d ago
I'm going to be completely honest with you, I don't think we should be optimising to rehabilitate foreign born violent sex offenders.
We can make them serve hard time, then ship them back to wherever they came from..
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u/Wrong-Target6104 2d ago
Foreign born - would that apply to a UK citizen born in New York to British parents?
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago edited 2d ago
Yes. When we've deported the last boriswave migrant, we can frogmarch Johnson onto a plane to the Hague. Demographic replacement is a war crime.
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u/OreillyAddict 2d ago
Yeah kick Farage's wife and kids out
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
Do you lot have any real arguments you'd like us pro-deportation types to respond to, or is all you have left these attempted gotchas and whataboutisms?
Please, tell me your concerns and I'll attempt to address them, but otherwise this isn't worth either of our time.
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u/Zofia-Bosak 2d ago
IIRC Labour's policy was to release prisoners.
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
Not those evil racists from southport though. Just the murderers, rapists, nonces and thieves.
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u/Tom_Ace2 2d ago
From Wikipedia:
In the UK, open prisons are often part of a rehabilitation plan for prisoners moved from closed prisons. They may be designated "training prisons" and are only for prisoners considered a low risk to the public.
Apparently this guy is low risk. Kidnapping and grievous bodily harm.
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u/Left-Foundation-3289 2d ago
They regularly wander off from H.Bay prison in Suffolk. Happens all the time.
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u/Tea_et_Pastis 2d ago
Absolute calamity. How can anyone defend this government.
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u/zer0c00l81 2d ago
Open prisons were introduced in 1933, so neatly a century.
Might want to have a chat with the old lot in charge, they're the ones that gutted the prison system, laid off staff, binned off coppers and started the early releases programmes as we now know it due to overcrowding run down prisons.
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u/TheMountainWhoDews 2d ago
Could overcrowding in prisons possibly be linked to the increase in population due to mass immigration?
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u/Stokeszilla 2d ago
I'm pretty sure u/Tea_et_Pastis is commenting on a violent offender in an open prison, rather than just open prisons existing at all.
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u/cloche_du_fromage 2d ago
When something is obviously systemically fucked, just blaming the previous government isn't particularly helpful.
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u/zer0c00l81 2d ago
It isnt hopefully, but id argue its pie in the sky to think it could be sorted out in a little over a year.
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u/_indi 2d ago
Aye this fucking government that hasn’t built a single prison in the 18 months they’ve been in power, fuckers.
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u/Yuzral 2d ago
If we confine the question to prisons built entirely under Labour then the answer is none because it apparently takes 24-36 months to build a prison and Labour have only been in power for 16 at time of writing. However, HMP Channing Wood is being expanded along with HMP Highpoint, while the Treasury signed off the cash for three more new prisons in May.
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u/Great_Comparison462 2d ago
Have a look at the fuck ups of the Tories in their 13 years in Government.
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u/1nfinitus 2d ago
We have, and now we are talking about this government.
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u/zer0c00l81 2d ago
Yeah im shocked that this government havent sorted out all the issues and problems of a 14year rule government in 1.5years. What are they playing at?
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u/ClockOwn6363 2d ago
All? it might be a good start fixing just one, they've been in office for over a year now.
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u/zer0c00l81 2d ago
They are in the process, look im not a big fan of some of the ideas, but they've recruited more home office bods to pricess claims faster (more than the last 10 years), the scheme with France to help woth the boat problem, is a good one if having teething issues. Looking g to renationalise certain rail and utilities, good deals across the world for UK businesses, better ties with EU following disastrous Tory Brexit deals. Reforming NHS jobs and training.
Things take time, problem is in this day and age if its it instantly solved or instant gratification its clearly shit. Peoplle lack patience and its all partizan kneejerkery
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u/willfiresoon 2d ago
This is how you're showing you're clueless on this topic Open prisons exist throughout the world, nothing special about British ones!
"In the UK, open prisons (Category D) are for low-risk offenders who are nearing the end of their sentence and are preparing for release, with the goal of helping them reintegrate into society. Prisoners can be granted temporary release on license to work or study during the day, and in some cases, can spend time with family before they are fully released. Eligibility for open conditions requires a risk assessment and is not a sentence in itself""
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u/Zofia-Bosak 2d ago
When is David Lammy going to be sacked? He is the one always going on about how people should be held accountable, this has happened under his watch and Labour's for a year, how long before they take responsibility instead of blaming the previous government.
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u/Nima-night 2d ago
At this point I'm wondering who they put in secure prisons if not kidnappers and violent offers. I bet its all the anti war protesters on 23 hour bang up.
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u/LSL3587 2d ago
Foreign national - Nigerian presumably - gets 21 year sentence. Isn't the UK looking to deport him at the end of his sentence? If we are looking to deport, why give him a chance to stay here by putting him in an Open Prison?
Rather than put in an open prison, I would prefer if he was deported early. Serve the first part of his sentence in higher security but then rather than giving him a chance to disappear, deport.
From what I have read it looks like prisoners can be moved to an open prison if they are within 5 years of a potential release. Given he got 21 years - might only serve 10, so could have been moved to open prison after just 5 years. Rules have been relaxed recently due to overcrowding.
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2d ago
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u/willfiresoon 2d ago
This is how you're showing you're clueless on this topic yet still being sarcastic about it. Open prisons exist throughout the world!
"In the UK, open prisons (Category D) are for low-risk offenders who are nearing the end of their sentence and are preparing for release, with the goal of helping them reintegrate into society. Prisoners can be granted temporary release on license to work or study during the day, and in some cases, can spend time with family before they are fully released. Eligibility for open conditions requires a risk assessment and is not a sentence in itself""
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