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PRISONER PINCHED

Pentonville escapee James Whitlock who went on the run after breaking out of jail is arrested by cops

Pentonville

ONE of the two inmates who broke out of Pentonville prison last week has been arrested by police this evening.

Fugitive James Anthony Whitlock, 31, who broke out of Pentonville Prison, has been arrested at an address in Hackney, east London, Metropolitan Police said.

 James Anthony Whitlock has been arrested after going on the run from prison last week
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James Anthony Whitlock has been arrested after going on the run from prison last week
 Matthew Baker was one of the men to escape HMP Pentonville, having been facing a life sentence after being found guilty of attempted murder for stabbing a man 25 times with broken glass
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Matthew Baker was one of the men to escape HMP Pentonville, having been facing a life sentence after being found guilty of attempted murder for stabbing a man 25 times with broken glass

A 48-year-old man and a 19-year-old man were also arrested at the home on suspicion of assisting an offender.

They all remain in custody at a north London police station.

Whitlock escaped from the London prison having been there on remand charged with conspiracy to steal from 19 cash machines across south-east England between last December and August.

 Police at HMP Pentonville in North London after two inmates escaped last week
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Police at HMP Pentonville in North London after two inmates escaped last weekCredit: PA:Press Association
 Alarms sounded through Pentonville prison after it was discovered the prisoners, who were on remand, escaped
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Alarms sounded through Pentonville prison after it was discovered the prisoners, who were on remand, escaped
 The inmates climbed over the prison wall to make their escape
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The inmates climbed over the prison wall to make their escape

Pal Matthew Baker was picked up by cops on Wednesday night.

Matt Baker was in custody awaiting sentencing for attempted murder when he made the “Alcatraz” style escape – with the 28-year-old allegedly found hiding under his sister’s bed at her home in Ilford, north London.

Kelly Baker, 21, now stands accused of buying hair-dye to hide her brother’s distinctive red hair and hiding him in her home.

She appeared in court, charged with aiding an offender after her brother arrived at her home in Ilford, 12 miles east of the Pentonville prison, with a broken leg and threatening suicide.

Ms Baker was arrested along with a 33-year-old man, who has been bailed until a date in December.

Baker had escaped from the North London prison on Monday night, along with inmate James Whitlock, with the pair using diamond-tipped cutting equipment to cut through the cell bar.

The cunning pair also left clothing and pillows in their beds to fool the prison guards.

 The lags aged 28 and 31 are said to have sawed through iron cell bars with diamond-edged cutters before scaling the 25ft wall
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The lags aged 28 and 31 are said to have sawed through iron cell bars with diamond-edged cutters before scaling the 25ft wallCredit: PA:Press Association
 Police dogs assisted in the search for the missing prisoners
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Police dogs assisted in the search for the missing prisonersCredit: PA:Press Association
 The prisoners possibly had help to break out of the highly secure facility
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The prisoners possibly had help to break out of the highly secure facilityCredit: Getty Images

Then they cut through the bars on their window using a diamond-tipped saw smuggled into London’s Pentonville prison from the outside, possibly using a drone.

Seconds later they wriggled through the tiny gap, dropped on to a flat roof and lowered themselves to the ground using “ropes” fashioned from their sheets.

After sprinting to the perimeter, unseen by CCTV operators, they scaled a 25ft wall, almost certainly with the help of pals outside. Last night both remained at large as Scotland Yard launched a huge manhunt.

Jail staff discovered the 10.40pm breakout only 12 hours later — having failed to spot the men were missing during at least three “heads on beds” checks.

A source said: “Remand prisoners do not have to leave their cells early and the only checks that were made were cursory, through the flap of the cell door.

 Prison sources believe the escape was planned with an illegal phone that had been smuggled to Baker
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Prison sources believe the escape was planned with an illegal phone that had been smuggled to BakerCredit: Getty Images
 Security in the prison is tight with authorities continuing their investigations into how the prisoners managed to get out
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Security in the prison is tight with authorities continuing their investigations into how the prisoners managed to get outCredit: Getty Images
 Matthew Baker convicted attempted murderer was awaiting sentencing at HMP Pentonville
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Matthew Baker convicted attempted murderer was awaiting sentencing at HMP PentonvilleCredit: PA

“Only much later was it noticed the inmates had not emerged from their cells.”

Baker was awaiting sentencing for attempted murder when he broke through cell bars at the north London prison with fellow inmate, James Whitlock, 31.

Baker was convicted on October 4 of the attempted murder of a man at a flat in Dagenham last year and was due to be sentenced on Friday.

The inmates escaped from Pentonville's G Wing - the same wing where inmate Jamal Mahmoud was stabbed to death last month in the troubled category B prison.

 Prisoners left dummies in their beds in the notorious 1962 break-out from Alcatraz island, depicted in the Clint Eastwood film Escape from Alcatraz
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Prisoners left dummies in their beds in the notorious 1962 break-out from Alcatraz island, depicted in the Clint Eastwood film Escape from AlcatrazCredit: Paramount
 Clint Eastwood as prisoner Frank Morris in the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz
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Clint Eastwood as prisoner Frank Morris in the 1979 film Escape from AlcatrazCredit: Alamy
 The maximum security jail on Alcatraz island - nicknamed The Rock - was said to have been impossible to escape before the 1962 breakout
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The maximum security jail on Alcatraz island - nicknamed The Rock - was said to have been impossible to escape before the 1962 breakoutCredit: Getty Images
 Three jailbirds dug their way out of Cell Block B using spoons in June 1962
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Three jailbirds dug their way out of Cell Block B using spoons in June 1962Credit: Corbis

Alarms began to ring throughout the prison about midday when prison officers confirmed the inmates were missing.

The audacious jailbreak echoes the notorious 1962 escape from Alcatraz island - made into a film starring Clint Eastwood - in which convicts made dummy heads out of paper and hair from the prison barber.

The maximum security jail off the coast of San Francisco was nicknamed The Rock because it was thought no one could ever escape.

More follows.


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