Ford Prison absconder back inside for Christmas

Derek Passmore, who is back behind bars more than two-and-a-half years after absconding from Ford Prison, after being recaptured by police on Christmas Eve,

Derek Passmore, now 50, was recaptured after failing to return to the open prison on June 22, 2013 whilst released on temporary licence. He absconded after being sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an acquaintance in London in 1997.

PC Lewis Dines, of the Chichester-based team leading the investigations on all absconders from Ford, said: “Passmore was released on a temporary licence from Ford prison and failed to return by the end of the allotted period. A significant amount of work involving teams in Sussex and colleagues in the Metropolitan Police Service was undertaken, but he maintained a low profile and remained evasive.

“However, we recently received information about his whereabouts, which led to his successful and uneventful recapture in the Hove area on Christmas Eve.”

Passmore has been charged with escaping lawful custody and is now detained at Lewes Prison. He will serve the remainder of his original sentence and also be sentenced for failing to return to return to Ford.

Anyone with any information about an absconder from Ford can contact [email protected] or call 101 quoting Sussex reference Op Parcel, or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.