A convicted murderer who fled prison guards while on day release to shop in Manchester Primark and visit the seaside was handed a two-year sentence today.
Paul Maxwell, who was serving a life sentence for a Wakefield murder in a botched 1996 robbery, admitted escaping lawful custody.
The 49-year-old ran away from his prison officer escort on February 21 while on day release from Rochdale’s Buckley Hall prison.
He used his newfound freedom to shop in Manchester’s Primark store, take a trip to Blackpool and even visit the elderly mum in a care home of the man who was harbouring him.
After a short manhunt, Maxwell was re-captured while sat relaxing on a bench in Albert Park, Salford, after police tracked him to the home of family friend Robert Flynn.
Flynn, 53, who had been harbouring Maxwell while on the run, admitted to assisting an offender.
He was also arrested and sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 150 hours community service.
Detective Constable Matthew Donnelly, from GMP’s Serious Organised Crime Group (SOCG), said: “By his own admission, Maxwell used his day release as an opportunity to abscond.
“While there could have been little by way of planning – he simply just run away – there is no doubt it was calculated and premeditated and, as a result, required a significant response from Greater Manchester Police, using valuable resources that may have been better used elsewhere.”
Police visited Flynn’s Camponia Gardens flat after he was one of the last people to visit Maxwell in prison 16 days prior to his escape.
CCTV images showed the pair leaving the flat earlier that morning and they were arrested shortly after, following an area search by police.
While being interviewed by police, Maxwell claimed to have turned up at Flynn’s address the previous evening, but he had actually visited a care home in Salford to see Flynn’s mum just three hours after he had absconded.
Detective Constable Donnelly said: “It is a reflection of his character that even once caught he lied about where he had been, claiming to have arrived on Flynn’s doorstep hours before they were caught, when in fact we were able to establish that they were together just hours after he absconded.
“When someone is harboured while on the run it always makes the task of finding them that little bit more difficult, but what we have shown is that we will persevere until they are caught.
“This case also shows there are serious repercussions for those who aid and abet fugitives.”
On October 13 1996, Paul Mansell targeted the home of two elderly brothers who lived together at an address in the Wakefield area of West Yorkshire.
During a violent robbery, the two brothers were seriously assaulted. One of the brothers later died as a result of his injuries, aged 84.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 16 1997 before he subsequently changed his name by deed poll to Paul Maxwell.
