Home Office refuse to comment
The Home Office today refused to comment on why Povey was allowed home - and why he was never pursued and sent back to jail.
The Home Office today refused to comment on why Povey was allowed home - and why he was never pursued and sent back to jail.
A source said there was an argument when he arrived at the open prison because Povey wanted to keep cash on him, which was against the rules.
He claimed Povey then left in a car with his wife and staff went after him but he was able to drive through the gates unstopped and unquestioned.
He could not confirm whether any action was then taken to inform authorities so that he could be taken back to jail to complete his sentence.
Home Office spokesman Steven Carter would only speak today about general policy on those who abscond and said he could not comment on individual cases.
He said: "We cannot guarantee that prisoners won't abscond but the number of those that do in relation to the prison population is now at its lowest level for 10 years.
"Anyone located in an open prison has been risk assessed and categorised as being of low risk to the public. On the issue of passports we are working on a proposal to feed information from police national computers on wanted individuals directly to the identity and passport service.
"At the moment in the event of a police force wishing to prevent a passport being issued it is the responsibility of that local force to inform the passport service." He said Povey would be treated as an absconder although the charge of absconding from custody has been dropped by the CPS.
He said: "That is the decision for the police and the CPS in this case, not an issue for the Home Office." The confusion is the latest embarrassment for the Home Office - facing a crisis because of overcrowding in jails and high levels of missing inmates from open prisons. The Government was last night accused of "criminal negligence" by the Prison Reform Trust after judges and magistrates were urged to jail only the most dangerous and persistent criminals in a bid to ease overcrowding.
Home Secretary John Reid, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer and Attorney General Lord Goldsmith wrote to courts to try to relieve some of the pressure on Britain's overcrowded jails. The jail population of England and Wales is hovering around its capacity of about 80,000 places.
The Home Office defended the letter to magistrates and judges, saying it was a necessary stopgap measure before plans to create a further 8,000 prison places come into being in the spring. Mr Reid said: "It is necessary to a civilised society that those who are a danger to our society are put away. The public have a right to expect protection from violent and dangerous offenders."