Posted May 16, 200817 yr http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/taysid...ral/7405484.stm Murderer absconds from open jail Bowden's victim was cut up while he was still alive A man who decapitated his victim then kept his head in the fridge has gone on the run from an open prison after being allowed on a shopping trip to Forfar. John Bowden, 51, failed to return to HMP Noranside in Angus on Thursday. Bowden, who was due to be considered for parole later this month, was originally jailed in England in 1982. He had been ordered to serve a minimum of 25 years for using a machete, saw and electric carving knife to cut up his victim while he was still alive. Parts of the victim's body were hidden on waste ground and streets near the flat in Camberwell in London and his severed head was stored in a fridge before being dumped in a dustbin. Horrendous murder Two other men were convicted along with Bowden but he received the longest sentence. At the time, the judge said it was a horrendous murder and he was a potential menace to the public at large. In 1992, while being held at Maidstone jail in Kent, Bowden went on the run during a compassionate visit to his sick father. He was later recaptured and transferred to Scotland in 1995 where he was held at a number of jails before being transferred to Noranside in October 2007. On Thursday he was allowed on a shopping trip with other prisoners from Noranside but did not return. Bowden is 5ft 7in tall, of medium build, with grey/white receding hair. He has a fair complexion, deep set blue eyes and has a tattoo on his right arm which says "Ireland the Brave". When last seen he was wearing prison issue blue-coloured denim jeans. Police are studying the CCTV system in Forfar to try to find him. British Transport Police and other forces are also involved in the operation. A Scottish Prison Service spokesman said the public should not approach Bowden. He added: "John Bowden is unlawfully at large. If anyone is aware of his whereabouts, they should contact the police." :blink: :blink: :blink:
May 16, 200817 yr Author Open prison? :blink: Shopping Trip? :blink: Parole? :blink: WTF????? :angry:
May 17, 200817 yr oh lord...... generally im against the death sentance, but killers like this make that position hard to justify.... as for the prison system.. anyone else catch that carp tv the other evening? it was on whilst we were getting ready to go out, it was one of these 'follow the traffic cops' type show. they caught this geezer with no tax, insurance nor was the car roadworthy. he expected to go to jail (re-offender) he WANTED to go to jail as "you get a bed, food, tv"... he was looked after in reletive (to his own scummy standards) luxury! how tf does THAT work? when a crim is better off inside? theres NO motivation to stop offending.
May 17, 200817 yr I was rather under the impression that Open Prisons were specifically for NON violent offenders..... <_<
May 17, 200817 yr he expected to go to jail (re-offender) he WANTED to go to jail as "you get a bed, food, tv"... he was looked after in reletive (to his own scummy standards) luxury! Doesn't that actually say more about our fukked-up society where the poor actually apparently feel that they better off in PRISON than on the outside actually trying to aspire to something.....? Nobody in this day and age deserves to live in "scummy" conditions.... It's like we never left the bloody Dickensian era......
May 18, 200817 yr Nobody in this day and age deserves to live in "scummy" conditions.... It's like we never left the bloody Dickensian era...... people live in those conditions through choice.... theres no excuse in this day and age for living in a slum. maybe these people should prioritise their spending on cleaning equipment instead of fags, lager and weed.
May 18, 200817 yr I have no objection to him being in an open prison, he has not been there all of his sentence, while he deserved a life means life tariff he had still served the required 25 years and was being prepared for release so what he has been doing is standard procedure for preparing prisoners for release I reckon, he is insane, if he had waited a month he would have been released anyways but now that he has escaped when he is recaptured he will have a few years added onto his sentence, 5-7 is the usual for escaping
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