Review into HMP Leyhill after murderer and two others abscond

An open prison from which three prisoners absconded on New Years’ Day will be subject to a review, a government minister has confirmed.

Alex Davies-Jones MP, a junior minister for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), told Parliament a review into HMP Leyhill, on the outskirts of Bristol, would be carried out within 20 days.

Three prisoners, including a convicted murderer, failed to return to the open prison in South Gloucestershire on 1 January, sparking a police manhunt.

One was arrested two days later, while the other two remain on the run.

Aaron Thomas, 39, was arrested in Bristol on Saturday and appeared in court on Monday, where he was charged with escaping from lawful custody and remanded until his next court appearance on 9 February.

The two other inmates who absconded – Daniel Washbourne, 40, and convicted murderer Matthew Armstrong, 35 – are still on the run.

The pair have links to Warwickshire and Herefordshire, and members of the public have been warned not to approach them and instead call 999 if they are spotted.

Responding to an urgent question from shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick, Davies-Jones said there had been “no intelligence regarding a potential abscond” by the three prisoners, who had all been moved to open conditions in 2025 after recommendations made by the independent Parole Board.

“Before making a recommendation the parole board conducts a thorough assessment of the offender’s risk of harm and risk of absconding,” said Davies-Jones.

“At the time that these risk assessments were completed, the prisoners were deemed suitable for open conditions.”

During the session, she faced a number of questions about why the three men had been considered eligible for release, and whether the crisis surrounding prison capacity had motivated their move to open prison.

Liberal Democrat spokesperson Jess Brown-Fuller said the news of the men absconding was “yet another example of the glaring incompetence of the MoJ when it comes to maintaining control of the prison population” and said the situation “raises some serious questions” about why the men had been placed in a Category D prison.

“Matthew Armstrong, a convicted murderer, has a history of violent incidents in custody, including leading a riot and attacking prison guards,” she said.

“Given this record, why did the MoJ feel able to approve his transfer to an open prison?”

Brown-Fuller went on to ask if Davies-Jones believed “poor transfer decisions” were being made based “on a lack of capacity”, or if she was “satisfied” the decisions made by the parole board were “strong enough”.

Davies-Jones said she could “reassure the house” that offenders serving life sentences or Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentences would only be approved for transfer in response to a recommendation by the Parole Board, after a thorough risk assessment of the offender’s risk of harm and risk of absconding.

She said the rate of absconds was “coming down substantially”, with 57 cases in the year ending March 2025 compared to 143 in the year ending March 2020.

Earlier, Jenrick had asked: “Why was someone who robbed and brutally killed a man by bashing him on the head with a brick, a man who led a prison riot and attacked prison officers, repeatedly deemed safe for open prison?

“Why, as we have just learned, did it take 48 hours for the police to raise the alarm? How many other murderers are there in open prisons? How many more mistaken releases have there been since the justice secretary last came clean?”

Davies-Jones said in response: “The crisis that our prisons face today was built up over 14 years and the Tories are the chief architects.”