Masked gunmen free violent prisoner

12 April 2012

The hunt is continuing for a violent prisoner freed by two masked gunmen from the back of an ambulance, following two previous custody escapes.

Joe Farnan, who was serving an indeterminate public protection sentence for robbery and possession of firearms at Wormwood Scrubs prison in West London, escaped from the back of an ambulance in broad daylight on Monday afternoon.

The 27 year old, believed to be from south-east London, had been taken to Hammersmith Hospital after apparently collapsing in jail.

As the ambulance arrived at the hospital, just a few hundred yards away from the jail, its rear door was opened and two men wearing balaclavas - one with a handgun - were waiting outside.

The masked men threatened three prison officers travelling with Farnan and forced them to uncuff him before making off in what police believe to be a silver Volvo.

Mark Leech, editor of the Prisons Handbook for England and Wales, questioned why Prison Service intelligence failed to pick up what appeared to be a pre-planned escape.

"Before this hospital trip took place the governor of Wormwood Scrubs would have carried out a risk assessment to determine the level of security that this prisoner required," he said.

"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.

"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."

Dee Edwards, from campaign group Mothers Against Murder and Aggression (MAMA) said it "beggared belief" that the convicted gunman was taken outside the prison despite having previously escaped on two occasions.

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