20091211

A convicted murderer has been found hanged in a west African holiday resort after leaving the UK illegally while he was on home leave from prison.

John Burt Brown, 57, was found dead in the Gambia on 29 November in what are thought to be suspicious circumstances. He had fled the country while on home leave from Castle Huntly open prison near Dundee in May.

Convicted of murder in 1976, Brown was being prepared for release from prison and was on seven days home leave when he used his passport to fly abroad, breaching his licence and the conditions of his home leave.

His failure to return to Castle Huntly in May prompted a furore at the Scottish parliament after the Tories accused ministers of allowing lax security at open prisons, and of failing to admit he had absconded.

Alex Salmond, the first minister, claimed the incident raised questions about the UK government's policy of allowing prisoners to keep their passports, and said his Scottish government's cabinet would discuss whether it should ask for the power to seize them.

But he added: "This is not a regular occurrence. Officials today have been unable to find any other example of an absconding prisoner who was found dead, in a reasonable period, in another country. It does raise the question of whether the Scottish prison service should have the power to withhold the passport of someone who has been released under licence and under conditions."

Tayside police tried to trace Brown, but only discovered he had fled to the Gambia after the Foreign Office informed them some days ago that his body had been found.

Brown had first been freed in 1997 on a life licence but was taken back in 2003 after breaching conditions; it is believed he applied for his passport in 2002. He had been due for full release in July.

A Scottish prison service spokesman insisted there was no indication Brown was likely to flee. "He only had a few months left on his sentence, and had been on home leave already," he said. "Why would we think he would take off to west Africa?"

The Scottish Conservative spokesman on community safety, John Lamont, said: "Labour's handling of border control might be lax, but it is laughable that the Scottish National party just blame the UK government for the fiasco.

"Instead of trying to shift the blame, Alex Salmond and the SNP should admit their culpability. Their policy of convicts in the community rather than prisoners in prison is dangerous and alarming. Scotland is not safe in the SNP's hands."

Scottish prison service figures show the rate of absconding from open prisons is at a record low, with eight cases so far this year compared to 98 during 1996-97, the last full year of Conservative control from London.

There is only one inmate currently at large from a Scottish open prison, a Dutchman who fled to the Netherlands and cannot be arrested and returned as absconding from an open prison is not an offence in the country.

guardian