A Penrith drug dealer who escaped from custody by walking out of an open prison has has four months added to the sentence he is already serving.
Paul Nicholson, 32, was handed a six-and-a-half year jail term in July 2020, for class A and B supply crimes, along with criminal property possession.
Carlisle Crown Court heard Nicholson had peddled vast quantities of MCAT, and had been a busy street dealer of cocaine.
Nicholson had been serving his sentence at HMP Kirkham, a category D open prison in Lancashire.
But on 24th June, it emerged he had walked out of the prison gates, headed for Cumbria. “When roll call was made, it was discovered that Mr Nicholson had left the prison,” prosecutor Gerard Rogerson told the court today.
“He was arrested on June 27, three days later, and was found hiding in the loft of a property. He said he had received news of a personal matter which meant that he wanted to get out of prison.”
Nicholson pleaded guilty to a charge of escape. Appearing in court remotely over a video link from custody, Nicholson revealed why he had committed the new crime.
After a previous family bereavement — and a temporarily release application knockback — he had received a phone call from a close relative. He said: “[They were] informing me that somebody else in my family was not going to make it past the weekend.”
“I made my own decision to go and say my goodbyes before I had the opportunity taken away from me,” said Nicholson. “I know I escaped. There was a reason for it — not that that excuses what I did.”
Judge Nicholas Barker imposed a four-month jail term which will be tacked on, consecutively, to the sentence Nicholson is currently serving.
“Your reasons for doing so (escaping) form no defence or justification for illegal escape from custody,” said Judge Barker.
It was a consequence of prison sentences that inmates could suffer further personal hardship, said the judge. “Which means they may not be there to say goodbye to loved ones. Sad as that may be, it is the harsh reality of prison sentences and the harsh reality of committing crimes,” he added.
“Open prisons operate on the basis of trust. You breached that trust.”
