Alley be off, then: prisoners abscond on trips to snack bar and bowling

Prisoners often run off while their supervisors are distracted.

Dozens of convicted criminals escaped custody last year by absconding while on supervised leave, an investigation by the Telegraaf has found.

Figures obtained by the newspaper showed that 253 prisoners and patients detained in tbs clinics fled during 2016, compared to 214 two years earlier.

Detainees gave their guards the slip during days out designed to help rehabilitate them into society. They took advantage of activities such as bike rides, or waited until their supervisor was otherwise occupied by paying for snacks at the counter or lining up a strike in the bowling alley.

The Telegraaf said that even though serious crimes were sometimes committed by inmates on the run, the public was not always informed that the perpetrator was an escaped prisoner.

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