Everything we know, one month after a “violent” criminal escaped from prison

Meanwhile, it was reported that while awaiting sentencing, Roscaleer smeared himself with baby oil to slip through prison bars before guards caught him.

Four days after the escape, Spanish police released a warning to people across the country with mugshots of the five men who escaped. In a translated post on X, Policia Nacional wrote: “These are the five inmates who escaped from a prison in Portugal. “The Portuguese police have asked the Spanish authorities for cooperation to achieve (their) arrest.”

The escape from the Portuguese prison was blamed on a lack of security guards and cameras in the prison. Spanish newspaper The Olive Press reported that Luis Neves, the national director of the criminal investigation department, claimed the group was “very dangerous” and “wants to do everything to remain free.”

While detectives across Europe struggle to find the prisoners, an investigation into the escape is underway in Portugal. On September 26, Sic Noticias reported that the former director of prison services defended the “pride” and “professionalism” of the guards on duty in Parliament, adding that 33 guards were on duty at the time of the escape. It has been claimed that the decision to demolish a watchtower in 2017 was a mistake.

Following the escape, European Arrest Warrants (EAW), a mechanism that allows an EU member state to request the arrest and surrender of a person from another member state, were issued. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office confirmed that it was aware of reports that a Briton had escaped from a Portuguese prison, but had not been asked to assist in the search.

The ECHO previously reported on Roscaleer when he was one of two masked men who threatened to “crush” a person’s skull before he and his accomplice stole more than £6,300 from The Gunners Arms in 2012. The two men went into the pub on Thornton Road in the early hours of May 8, 2012, waking the licensees who were sleeping in separate rooms above. Roscaleer wore a balaclava and carried a claw hammer, while his accomplice covered his face with a scarf and armed himself with a knife or screwdriver as they gained entry via the first floor.

They demanded that the business partners hand over the contents of their safe, whereupon Roscaleer told them: “Get going or I’ll smash your head in.” However, the robbers were later tracked down by police at another pub and in possession Most of the stolen cash was found.

While serving his sentence at HMP Kirkham in Lancashire, Roscaleer escaped from his cell in 2015, prompting a nationwide manhunt to locate the wanted prisoner. Roscaleer responded to police appeals.