THE majority of prisoners on the run from Ford open prison are drugs offenders, The Argus can reveal.

Eighty-two of its prisoners are on the run ten months after police set up a crisis team to track them all down – and two have run away since Friday. They include one fraudster who ran away from the jail 40 years ago and 18 criminals who ran away in the 1990s.

Data released to The Argus by Sussex Police under the Freedom of Information Act shows the absconders still on the run also include two murderers, 28 drugs offenders –including dealers and traffickers – seven thieves, and a kidnapper.

Glyn Travis, spokesman for the POA prison officers’ union, said changes were needed to the way prisoners were assessed for open prisons and day release. He added: “It is no surprise that prisoners with serious index offences have absconded from open prisons.

“If you provide an opportunity for them to walk away from the prison then some of them will ultimately take that opportunity. That will ultimately incur police time and taxpayers’ money to bring them back to justice and bring them back to prison.

“There needs to be a root and branch review of the whole system, to move away from the tick-box mentality and to have appropriate assessment.”

Tagging He added that he welcomed government reforms coming into force, including stricter assessments and tagging, but they did not go far enough.

In June, Sussex Police published the names of eight of the men on the run from Ford, near Arundel, considered to be most at risk of re-offending.

Among them were murderers Derek Passmore, 49, who ran away in June last year and Robert Donovan, 57, on the run since June 19, 2010.

However, the force will not name the others for “investigative reasons,” adding: “Some of the men may believe that because they have been at large for such a long time, we do not know that they are wanted.”

Most (40) of the absconders still on the run absconded in the 2000s, while eight have fled since 2010.

Sussex Police added that it remained “confident of finding and arresting many of them.”

• The offences

The following absconders were in jail for the following crimes: Drugs, 30; fraud, 16; murder, 3; burglary, 5; drink-driving, 2; going-equipped, 2; kidnap, 1; wounding with intent, 1; theft, 7; customs evasion, 1; GBH, 2; false/inst (forgery), 6; assist illegal entry, 1; exporting prohibited goods, 1; VAT offences, 1; possession with intent, 1; handling, 1; reckless driving, 1.