Convicted robber escaped HMP Sudbury by placing dummy in his cell then scaling 10ft walls and fleeing for weekend away in Skegness as girlfriend who helped him walks free from court
- Luke Harey, 30, was jailed for 12 years in 2014 for a robbery in Leicestershire
- Girlfriend Hannah Smith, 30, from Erdington, was given six-month jail sentence
- She admitted harbouring a criminal after driving him away from HMP Sudbury
A convicted robber who escaped HMP Sudbury by placing a dummy in his cell, climbing a 10ft high wall and fleeing for a weekend away in Skegness with his girlfriend has had ten months added to his 12-year sentence.
Luke Harvey, 30, was caught by police when he and mother-of-one Hannah Smith drove down the M6 near her home in Birmingham a week after his jailbreak.
Smith has been handed a six-month prison sentence suspended for two years and 150 hours unpaid work at Derby Crown Court after she admitted harbouring a criminal.
Harvey was put behind bars for in 2014 after he broke into a house in Leicester brandishing metal bars, punched the couple that lived there in the face and stole £3,500 worth of jewellery.
Prosecutor Mark Achurch said he had been due to be released next year, halfway through his sentence.
Luke Harvey, 30, was caught by police when girlfriend Hannah Smith, 30, drove him down the M6 near her home in Birmingham a week after his jailbreak
Smith was handed a six-month jail sentence suspended for two years at Derby Crown Court. She has also been told to complete 150 hours unpaid community work
Police put out an alert for Harvey in August last year after finding he had stuffed his bed when they did their final check at 10pm.
CCTV footage showed him climbing over the prison wall before getting into a car driven by his partner.
The court heard how the couple fled for a weekend away in Scotland, with Harvey telling Smith he was due back on Monday.
However, when they returned he went on the run. Harvey saw his partner again days later, and asked her to drive him to a friend’s house.
He had his sentence extended at Warwick Crown Court in October. Smith was handed a suspended sentence at Derby Crown Court yesterday.
Judge Shaun Smith QC, giving her sentence, said: ‘Had you been harbouring him secretly making sure people did not know where he was then doubtless you would be going into immediate custody.
‘But you weren’t as he was travelling in your car when you were pulled over and he was arrested.
Harvey escaped HMP Sudbury, pictured, by climbing its ten-foot high walls
‘But you did realise he was an escapee and could have told the police but for whatever reason chose not to.
‘You are a mum to an 11-year-old child and if I send you to custody that child would be taken into foster care.’
Patrick Williamson, mitigating for the mother, said: ‘She has a relative who could look after her child for a short period of time but after that it would need to be placed into foster care if she is handed immediate custody.’
The hearing was told how the couple are now no longer together.