Lags at notorious open jail motor off in cars on day release while tired-looking prison officers cycle to work
Prisoners doing time for assault, fraud and drugs are among 12 currently being allowed to drive to their work placements
INMATES at Ford open jail are motoring off on day release trips, while staff cycle to work.
Lags doing time for assault, fraud and drugs are among 12 currently being allowed to drive to their work placements.
The Sun saw one in a Ford Ka and one in a Kia, which they keep in the car park at the notoriously soft jail in Arundel, West Sussex.
Meanwhile, one tired-looking employee pedalled in on a rusty red cycle and another used a mountain bike.
The Ministry of Justice said inmates use their own cars “to facilitate work placement” — job schemes for those nearing the end of sentences.
But a source told The Sun: “It seems a slap in the face to society.
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“Convicts drive to and from prison and also home for visits.
“Some staff can’t even afford a car.
“Sometimes it feels the world’s been turned on its head — the bad guys get the perks and the good guys get to take the bus or cycle.”
Past inmates at Ford include former footballer George Best, jailed in 1984 for drink driving and assault.
Last year 129 lags, including violent criminals, were let out of jails for driving lessons or tests.
The bad guys get the perks and the good guys get to take the bus or cycle
Those freed on day-release included 57 violent offenders, 30 convicted for drugs offences, 21 robbers, four burglars and a sex offender.
Around a quarter were serving the equivalent of a life sentence, while two were serving serious motoring offences.
A spokesman for the TaxPayers’ Alliance told The Sun: “Taxpayers wouldn’t begrudge programmes to rehabilitate and re-educate prisoners.
“But paying for a lag’s driving lesson will stick in their throats.”
Past Inmates at HMP Ford
FAMOUS faces who have served time at the Category D prison include late footballer George Best, House of Lords peer and TV presenter Lord Brocket, and journalist and former MI5 officer David Shayler.
Footie star Best spent Christmas in the prison in 1984 after receiving a three month sentence for drunk driving and assaulting a police officer.
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