County officers arrest robber on the run from prison

Patrick James Pugh, 24, was captured by the county's police last night following a search lasting almost five weeks.

Superintendent James Tozer, policing commander for Shropshire, took to Twitter to praise the work of the officers involved in the arrest.

He said: "Patrick Pugh's Just been arrested for escaping from HMP. Great work PC Gareth Owen + Special Constable Max Braddock. Well done to Sgt Riley's team #OurDuty."

Supt Tozer said he couldn't give any specific details about where Pugh was arrested.

"All I can say is he was found 'locally'," he said.

Pugh was convicted of robbery at Shrewsbury Crown Court and sentenced to four years custody. He absconded from HMP Sudbury, an open prison in Derbyshire, on June 23.

An appeal was launched to track him down, and he was believed to be heading for Shropshire as he has links with the county.

Police hoped a description would help identify Pugh as he has two distinctive tattoos of praying hands with rosary beads on his left arm and "RIP Scotty always loved" on the left side of his neck.

Pugh was the fourth prisoner to fail to return to the institution in as many days.

Marcus Brotherson, 27, also convicted of robbery, and Jordan John David Hall, 24, convicted of grievous bodily harm, both absconded overnight on June 19 to 20. Both men have connections to Birmingham.

Brotherson walked into a police station in Birmingham on July 1 and handed himself in. He had been convicted in 2012 and sentenced to four years imprisonment.

Adam James Yaroo went missing from the category D prison on the same date as Pugh. He was convicted of burglary two years ago and was jailed for four years. His last known address was in Kent but he also has links to London. Hall and Yaroo have not yet been traced.

There have also been dozens of prisoners disappearing from other open prisons i the past couple of months, including two from Leyhill Open Prisoni n Gloucestershire and six from HMP Hatfield in Yorkshire.