| Frank Craig (29), who was serving nine years for assault and three attempted robberies, failed to return to the prison on October 30 (last Thursday) after a period of temporary release, and a police hunt is now under way.
The disappearance comes despite an overhaul of assessment at the jail in light of the case involving Robert Foye, who raped a schoolgirl while on the run.
Labour justice spokesman Richard Baker said, “The fact is we had all these reassurances after the Foye case that rigorous assessment was in place, that every effort would be made to ensure Castle Huntly was secure, and to bring down the rate of absconding.
“You have to ask again therefore — has every step been taken to ensure those people going to Castle Huntly have had the right, rigorous assessment? Can the community be reassured that their safety is being protected, that the people being put in the open estate are not going there at the expense of community safety?
“The fact this prisoner has absconded raises questions over that, and I will be taking these up with the justice secretary.”
Another senior politician questioned the decision to have a violent criminal in an open prison, and subsequently allowed to go on unsupervised release, so early in his sentence.
“This is another case that calls into serious question the judgment of those who make these decisions, and leaves the public with a total lack of confidence in the system,” said shadow justice secretary Bill Aitken.
Craig is the 17th inmate to disappear from the Carse prison plus Noranside in Angus, during 2008. By the same time last year the figure was 45, although the reduction covers a period where the population of the open estate has been greatly reduced.
A spokesman for the SPS told the Tele, “Absconds are down around 60% on the figure last year. Prisoners are fully risk assessed, but is regrettable and disappointing that some still fail to take advantage of this opportunity and fail the test of responsibility and readiness.”
Police were today continuing the search for Craig, who has served less than a third of a sentence handed down by the High Court in Glasgow.
He is one of two current absconders from the Carse jail — the other is convicted fraudster Derek Watson, who has been missing for almost a month.
The appeal for information on Craig’s whereabouts was only issued by police yesterday.
He is described as being around 5ft 11, slim, with brown eyes and short, greying hair. He is known to have friends and family in Port Glasgow. |
