Criminal absconds from open prison within hours of being taken there

Castle Huntly: Michael Ridge absconded from the open prison.

A criminal serving 12 years behind bars walked out of an open prison within hours of being taken there.

Michael Ridge, 24, spent less than three hours in total at Castle Huntly before walking out of the front door and heading for home.

A prosecutor told a court on Friday that the incident gave the impression that Castle Huntly was built with "revolving doors" in its cells.

Ridge, who has been held in secure conditions since being jailed in July 2006, was assessed by prison chiefs as suitable for a move to open conditions.

On Thursday he was transferred from Glenochil prison to Castle Huntly and arrived at the controversial jail on the outskirts of Dundee at 3pm.

He spent a considerable period formally checking in to Castle Huntly and was shown to his room in the jail later in the afternoon.

At 5.05pm he was still present in his room when prison staff arrived to remind him to join the rest of the prisoners for dinner at 6pm. But Ridge simply disappeared and when a head count was taken at dinner-time it was noticed that he was missing and a search of the prison was carried out.

He was not found and Tayside Police were informed. Ridge was found walking on the road around eight miles away, near the village of Leetown, at 3.25am on Friday and arrested.

When he appeared from custody later in the day at Perth Sheriff Court, Ridge, from Falkirk, admitted absconding from the jail on the day he arrived.

Fiscal depute John Malpass said: "The accused was only in Castle Huntly for approximately three hours so at first blush you might think there's a revolving door on his cell. He didn't attend dinner and at 6pm when a head count of all inmates was carried out he was found to be missing. He was traced at 3.25am walking on the roadway eight miles from Castle Huntly. He freely admitted he had absconded and was arrested."

Solicitor John McLaughlin, defending, said: "He had been in Glenochil and had very little face to face contact with his family because of their travel difficulties. When he arrived at Castle Huntly he was told the process for preparing him for home visits would take a significant period. He was sitting in his room and on the spur-of-the-moment he walked out to walk home and see his family."

There was no pre-planning and nobody to pick him up. He just walked out, simple as that. He kept out of the way until darkness fell, initially following the railway line and then walking on the road." Sheriff Robert McCreadie jailed Ridge, who is serving four consecutive sentences totalling 12 years, for a further eight months yesterday.

He told him: "It is not only punishment, but a deterrent is necessary in this case to make it clear to anyone else what the consequences of absconding would be."

A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: "The matter has been reported to Tayside Police." She declined to comment further on the details of the case.

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