DOZENS of prisoners are still on the run after absconding from an open prison over the past ten years.

Fraudsters and a murderer are among 37 who have run away from Ford Open Prison between 2004 and 2015 and have not been recaptured.

Robert Donovan, now 59 or 60, was jailed for life after stabbing to death a man in London but failed to return to Ford after day release in June 2010.

He and the others on the loose all either walked out of the low-security prison near Arundel without permission or failed to return from day release.

The Ministry of Justice revealed the number in response to a Freedom of Information request from The Argus.

It also named 13 of those still at large - but refused to name the other 24, citing data protection laws and potential risk to victims and police investigations.

However, The Argus can reveal that most of those the Ministry of Justice now refuses to identify were named in response to an similar request from The Argus last year - raising questions about naming decisions.

Tom Zolynski, who stole £10,000 from a frail, elderly man, and drug dealer Victor Lloyd Macfarlane are among those on the run whose identity the Ministry of Justice no longer wants to reveal.

The problem of absconding Ford prisoners was thrown into the spotlight in 2014, when Sussex Police revealed 89 inmates were on the run.

By May 2015 that number was down to 39, of which two have since been recaptured: murderer Derek Passmore and fraudster Leacroft Wallace.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “Absconds from open prisons have fallen to a record low since 2010, down 75 per cent on a decade ago.

“But we are not complacent and take each one extremely seriously, always notifying the police at the earliest possible opportunity.

“Those who do abscond are returned to much tougher, closed prisons where they will have to serve additional time.”