AN inmate is still on the loose from The Mount prison in Bovingdon, nearly two weeks after he "wandered off" from outside the prison gates.

William Kendall, 47, who comes from the Kent area, absconded from the Chesham Road prison on Monday, January 18, when he was working unsupervised on flowerbeds in the garden outside the prison walls.

Kendall, who was convicted at Wolverhampton Crown Court in November 1994 for conspiracy to supply drugs, was sentenced to ten years imprisonment and was moved to The Mount in February 1996. He is not believed to be dangerous.

Prison Service spokesman Mr Gavin Bostock said the inmate was digging flowerbeds near the entrance to The Mount at 9.50am. He was dressed in a grey shirt, blue jeans and white trainers.

Mr Bostock said: "He obviously just wandered off. It was not a rope ladder type escape.

"There may have been some level of supervision but a prisoner would not have been allowed to do that sort of work unless he had been assessed as suitable for an outside work placement.

"If someone is assessed as suitable, it means they are trusted to work in open conditions without guards. They are put there on trust.

"He abused the trust we had put in him and if and when he is recaptured he will be returned to a closed prison."

He said police were informed shortly after Kendall's escape was discovered and a search was mounted, which included officers and a police helicopter scouring the area.

Police spokesman Mr Bob Fenton said airports and sea ports were notified and inquiries were being made into the escape. It is the first abscond since governor Mr Paul Wailen took over the running of the prison in September 1996. The last break-out was in June 1996, when one man escaped.

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