Absconder given extra prison time

Cartledge (left), Lister (centre), and Smyth (right) all went on the run

An inmate who had been on the run from Castle Huntly jail, near Dundee, for just 24 hours has had an extra six months added to his sentence.

John Cartledge, 41, was one of three inmates who absconded from open prisons in Tayside on Wednesday.

Simon Lister, 28, and 39-year-old Dennis Smyth are still at large.

Cartledge, who is serving eight years for a violent assault, and who had absconded from the jail in the past, handed himself in to police.

At Perth Sheriff Court he pleaded guilty to attempting to defeat the ends of justice by absconding.

The court heard that while Cartledge was on home leave from Castle Huntly he had an argument with his partner.

He left to stay with a friend and started drinking.

When he came to on Thursday afternoon he realised he was supposed to have returned to the jail the day before, and he turned himself in.

His previous conviction for absconding from Castle Huntly was shortly after he was transferred there, when he had been given leave after the death of his father.

Passing sentence, Sheriff Michael Fletcher said: "The courts expect someone who is sent to prison to stay there for the time they are sent there.

"I take into account, however, that you were out for one day and made arrangements to go back. The authorities did not have to find you."

Lister, who is on the run from Noranside prison in Angus, was serving a seven year sentence for assaults and robberies.

Smyth was sentenced to six years and eight months in 2006 for housebreaking charges.

These inmates are meant to be in prison, not wandering around unsupervised in the community Robert Brown Scottish Liberal Democrats

Calls have been made to review home leave for prisoners after the three cases.

The Liberal Democrats said the situation was "disgraceful".

Scottish Lib Dem chief whip Robert Brown called on Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to look again at the rules on home leave.

"It is reasonable for people at the end of their sentence to move to less formal surroundings as part of the process of preparing for re-entering the community," he said.

"But the bottom line is that these inmates are meant to be in prison, not wandering around unsupervised in the community."

A review of Castle Huntly was ordered after a prisoner there, Robert Foye, raped a schoolgirl while on the run in 2007.

He had been allowed out to attend an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting but did not return to the jail when he was due.

The Scottish Government said absconding prisoners were now no longer likely to be sent back to open prison.

A spokesman pointed out that the number of absconders from Castle Huntly over 2007-08, 59, was seven less than the previous year.

"In addition to the recommendations contained in the Scottish Prison Service review of the Robert Foye case, there is now a clear presumption against returning a prisoner to the open estate if they have previously absconded," he said.