Manhunt for 3 Inmates Who Absconded From Suffolk Prison

Three men—(L to R) Aidan McGuinness, Joshua Terry and Levi Mitchell—who absconded from HMP Hollesley Bay in Suffolk, England on Oct. 21, 2023. Suffolk Police

A manhunt is underway in East Anglia after three inmates absconded from the same prison within the space of ten hours on Saturday.

At 9:20 a.m. on Saturday morning Aidan McGuiness, 44, was reported missing from Hollesley Bay prison in Suffolk.

McGuinness, who is from Barnsley in Yorkshire, was serving a three-year sentence for theft, fraud and possession of a Class B drug.

Then, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, two more inmates were reported missing—Joshua Terry, 29, and Levi Mitchell, 39.

Terry, who is from Norfolk, was serving a sentence of two years and four months for affray, theft and threatening a person with a bladed article in a public place.

Mitchell, who was from the Hertfordshire area, was in jail after being convicted of a series of burglaries.

McGuinness is described as being 5 feet 10 inches tall, with brown hair and blue eyes. He is thin, clean-shaven, has a slight Yorkshire accent and a tattoo of the name Zara on his left wrist.

Terry is 6 feet 2 inches tall with ginger hair and blue eyes. He is thin, with facial stubble and a tattoo of a star on his lower arm.

Mitchell is 5 feet 10 inches tall, with ginger hair and blue eyes. He is of a slight build and was sporting a goatee beard. He has a birthmark on his left arm and hand.

Rapid Deployment Cells

Prisons in England and Wales are full to overflowing at the moment, largely as a result of the remand prisoner population, and earlier this year the Ministry of Justice said hundreds of rapid deployment cells had been rolled out at Hollesley Bay prison and HMP Norwich.

The government has promised to increase the number of prison places in England and Wales by 20,000 by the mid-2020s but the Prison Reform Trust says it is “significantly behind schedule.”

In June, Britain’s newest prison, HMP Fosse Way in Leicester, opened, but there are currently around 88,000 people behind bars in England and Wales, with the number projected to reach 93,200 by 2024.

Last week the Justice Secretary, Alex Chalk, announced a number of steps designed to reduce the prison population, including releasing prisoners serving short and non-violent sentences 18 days early.

Mr. Chalk said at the time: “The first duty of any government is to keep its people safe. And that’s why those who pose a danger to society must be locked up. And this government is categorical that the worst offenders should be locked away for as long as it takes to protect the public.”

Hollesley Bay is a Category D prison which holds prisoners serving mostly non-violent offences or coming to the end of their sentences.

‘Less Secure Than a Farmer’s Field’

A former prison officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Epoch Times: “D Cat prisons are, by their nature very low security in terms of fences and accommodation. They generally have less secure fences than a typical farmer’s field and the wings are often Nissan huts or Portakabins holding groups of prisoners.”

The Daily Mail pointed out the three inmates who absconded at the weekend were not the only prisoners from Hollesley Bay who were on the loose.

On Sep. 28, Andrew Smith, who was serving 18 years for grievous bodily harm, absconded.

Roger Simmons, 47, who was serving time for burglary, failed to return to the prison on Sep. 27 after a period of home leave.

One of Hollesley Bay prison’s claims to fame is that in the early 1990s it housed Pat Tate, Jack Whomes and Michael Steele.

Tate and Steele became friends in the prison but in 1995 Tate and his associates Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were shot dead in a Range Rover parked in a country lane in Rettendon, Essex.

Steele and Whomes were later convicted of the so-called Essex Boys murders and were jailed for life, although both men have steadfastly maintained their innocence.