By Andrew Young
The dramatic moment a man helped his thief pal escape a courtroom minutes after he was sentenced has been released on CCTV footage.
The footage was released after 21-year-old Callum Finter was jailed for 3 months, after setting his 17-year-old pal free despite knowing he was due to spend his night in a prison cell. The teenage pal cannot be named for legal reasons, but he entertained those present on that occasion with his escape attempt.
His assisting offender, Finton, was spotted positioned right next to the door’s release catch. As soon as Finton’s pal was sentenced to 21 weeks imprisonment for the theft of a mobile phone, he pushed past the guard and ran out. Finton said he was there to support his friend but had been told by his friend’s solicitor that he will be out at the end of the day. Judge Hatton said: after your friend ran past you, you shouted something. I got the very clear impression from watching the CCTV back that you were encouraging him on his way. Escape from custody is always regarded as a serious offence for understandable reasons. It follows that assisting someone to escape is also regarded rightly as a serious matter”.
The teenager was on the run for two days but was eventually sentenced to an extra six months detention for the escape when he later appeared in Kirklees Magistrates Court. This means he will end up serving twice his original sentence for trying to escape. The original 21 weeks sentence for the theft of a mobile phone shows reflects the inconvenience mobile thieves subject their victim to. Victims of mobile theft often lose lots of contacts stored on their phone, but this is not something a mobile thief takes into account. All thieves think about is how the goods they are stealing can benefit them. The original 21 weeks sounded like fair judgment for stealing a phone. The extra 6 months is basically for contempt of court and will teach him a lesson to know how to behave next time. He clearly has no respect for authority.