Police are hunting for a convicted robber who absconded from an open prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent.
Michael Dunn, 53, left HMP Standford Hill without permission at around 8.55am on Saturday, Kent Police said.
He was jailed for six years and four months in September 2023 after pleading guilty to robbery offences in Maidstone.
Mr Dunn was last seen in a grey hoodie, dark bottoms, black trainers and a black hat and scarf, the force said.
Officers are following multiple lines of enquiry to locate him and are appealing for the public’s assistance.
It comes after three prisoners absconded from HMP Leyhill, in South Gloucestershire, on New Year’s Day. They have since been arrested.
In November, it was confirmed that HMP Standford Hill is to be expanded as part of the government’s drive to deliver an additional 14,000 prison places.
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Open prisons – otherwise known as Category D jails – have minimal security and are traditionally used to house prisoners right at the end of their sentence, to prepare them for integrating back into society.
With overcrowding in higher security jails, policy changes mean more prisoners are eligible for a transfer to open conditions earlier on in their sentence.
An abscond is an escape that does not involve overcoming a physical security barrier or restraint. It is only possible to abscond from open prison conditions.
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Mark Drury, a serving governor, warned in November last year that public safety is “at risk” because more inmates are being sent to prisons with minimal security.
Speaking in his role as representative for open prison governors at the Prison Governors’ Association, he told Sky News that open prisons that have had no absconders for “many years” are now “suddenly” experiencing a rise in cases.
The Ministry of Justice is yet to release more recent data, but there were 57 absconds in the year ending March 2025, 15 of whom were still at large after 30 days.
