Escape blamed on 'system failure'

The public have been warned not to approach the escapee

The escape of a prisoner from custody was the result of an intelligence failure, says a penal system expert.

Joe Farnan, 27, is on the run after jumping from an ambulance, aided by two masked gunmen, en route to hospital.

Mark Leech, the Prisons Handbook editor, said Farnan was clearly seen to be high risk but questioned why the "pre-planned" escape was not picked up.

The Prison Service said Farnan was deemed a flight risk because of his past and did receive extra security.

Intelligence gathering

A Prison Service spokesman said: "Because we had concerns about this prisoner's history, he was sent to hospital with a three-officer escort and was double-cuffed."

An inquiry by the Prison Service is now under way into the circumstances surrounding the escape.

Farnan, from Bermondsey, south-east London, was in prison at Wormwood Scrubs for conspiracy to rob and other crimes.

He was being taken to nearby Hammersmith Hospital after complaining of fits while at the west London prison.

Farnan was in Wormwood Scrubs for conspiracy to rob and other crimes

Mr Leech said an assessment would have been carried out before the hospital trip to determine the level of security the prisoner required.

"The fact that three prison officers were sent to escort him, rather than the usual two, shows there was a heightened awareness of the need for care in his case," he said.

"However this escape was clearly pre-planned and the Prison Service needs to look urgently at why their intelligence system, which is designed to discover such plans, failed to do so."

Mr Leech has called for an urgent review of the Prison Service's intelligence gathering mechanism.

Armed robbery

Farnan's first bid for freedom was in 2000 following an appearance at a magistrates' court where he was charged with armed robbery.

He absconded from a prison van, which was transporting him from the court. He was recaptured within three months.

He later escaped from Standford jail in Kent and went on to commit a further offence.

He was convicted and jailed in July 2006 for conspiracy to rob, aggravated vehicle taking and escaping from lawful custody.