Prisoner absconded out of "frustration" (From Gazette Series)

Prisoner absconded out of "frustration"

AN inmate who absconded from Leyhill Open Prison on Boxing Day after "17 months of frustration" in the jail has been remanded in custody to await sentencing at Gloucester Crown Court.

Paul Ilott, 26, formerly of Hannah Court, Cheltenham, was serving a six-year sentence for robbery, assault and possession of a firearm when he fled the prison on December 26 last year.

He pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody on that date at the crown court on February 7. He was remanded until March 28 for a pre-sentence report to be prepared.

However, Recorder Nicholas Rowland warned him he is facing an additional prison term to run consecutively to his current sentence.

Giles Nelson, defending, said: "He was sentenced to six years by this court on June 23 and was transferred to Leyhill on July 9 2004.

"He absconded on Boxing Day last year. There had been 17 months of frustration for him at Leyhill. Various efforts were made by this young man with regard to drugs assistance and they were all thwarted.

"I suggest that these circumstances are likely to make a difference to sentence and I would ask for an adjournment to obtain a report from the probation officer who worked with him at Leyhill.

"Ilott is not due for release from his sentence until April 7 2007. He is going to be in Gloucester Prison for the next few weeks."

Ilott's six-year sentence was for his part in a violent late night rampage during which he and a cousin knocked one man unconscious and pistol-whipped another before robbing him.

Ilott was convicted by a jury of assault causing actual bodily harm, robbery, and possessing a firearm.