Hunt for killer on run from jail for third time

A man serving life sentence for murder has gone on the run from prison for the third time.

14:09 19 May 2014

Police officers are hunting Arnold Pickering, the 44-year-old convicted murderer, after running from prison for the third time. Pickering, together with another inmate Thomas Moffett, were let out on a day release to work at 9:30am on Saturday morning. They were due back at round 4:40pm the same day. While Moffett was arrested on Sunday in Blackburn, Lancashire, Pickering remains at large. 

 

Pickering last absconded in December 2009 but surrendered four days later in Motherland, Scotland. He is described as 5ft 11in tall, medium built with blue eyes, and has tattoos on his arm and chest. He is serving an indeterminate  sentence for a string  of robberies carried out in Blackburn, Lancashire, in 2006. 

 

Because of the disappearance, Prisons Minister Jeremy Wright said that changes need to be made to ensure public safety. 

 

"I am not prepared to see public safety compromised," he said.

 

"The system for allowing prisoners out on temporary license  has been too lax up till now and we are making major changes to address this.

 

"There will shortly be significant restrictions on who is granted temporary release - which from now on must be earned  - tightening up of monitoring arrangements and abolishing any leave without a clear link to rehabilitation."