Lynda Plante - The Escape

Barry was really scared as he was manhandled and dragged through the corridors to the Governor’s office. He was shaking uncontrollably as he stood to attention in front of the Governor’s desk with a prison officer either side of him. At first, he still tried to pretend to be Colin, but one of the officers gave him a hard clip round the back of the head. He then claimed that prisoner Burrows had never told him anything about an escape plan. The Governor, who was now seething with anger, got up from his desk and went nose to nose with Barry.

‘I’m not a fool, so don’t make it any worse for yourself, son. Just admit that you helped him with his escape plan because YOU had to know about your court appearance, right?’

‘I might have been told, sir, but I just forgot about it.’

‘Well, you’d better start remembering quickly, or you’ll be in solitary confinement for months, without so much as a piece of chalk to draw with!’ the Governor shouted, and again an officer slapped the back of Barry’s head hard.

He was really frightened now, and couldn’t face the thought of being in solitary with no art book, felt tips or pencils. Sobbing and terrified, he changed his story and admitted that he had known about the plan. He said he was scared of Colin Burrows and had to agree to let him take his place for the court appearance.

‘Did Burrows threaten you?’

‘Yes, sir. I was afraid not to do exactly what he told me.’

‘Do you know where he was planning to go?’

‘All I know is that he was desperate to be with his wife. She’s having a baby, sir, and he said he would do anything to be there at the birth.’

‘Did he say which hospital?’

‘No, sir.’

‘Take him back to his cell,’ the Governor snapped angrily.

He was worried that the press would get hold of the story, and that he and his staff would be made to look like a bunch of incompetent fools. He also knew that it could mean the end of his career in charge of Barfield Prison.

As Barry was dragged back to his cell, he got a huge cheer when the inmates saw him. They all started singing as loud as they could, ‘There’s only one Barry Marsden’, repeating the words over and over. The officers felt they were being made to look like idiots and, in anger, threw Barry back into his cell. He hit the floor and wall really hard, hurting his right shoulder and arm. He wasn’t sure if he’d broken it, but he didn’t dare say anything as he knew the officers wouldn’t care anyway.

‘You are going to get a lot of extra time inside for this. Believe me, we’ll be watching your every move from now on.’

The cell door slammed shut as Barry crawled onto Colin’s bottom bunk and curled up in pain. The cell was a mess after the search. The officers had broken all his felt tips into pieces and thrown them in the toilet.

The fact was many of the prison officers were going to be investigated for having allowed the escape to occur. The male officers had all been smug at first, trying to blame it on the female officer who’d escorted Colin on the court run. They now realised they were all in big trouble, and there were plenty of excuses as the officers argued and accused each other. Prisoner Burrows had fooled everyone who had dealt with him that morning. If just one of them had done his job properly and checked more closely, they would have recognised the switch and prevented the escape. Now some of them might even lose their jobs.

The police couldn’t believe it when they were told that the escaped prisoner was actually Colin Burrows. The prison sent his picture, a full description and his home address with a plea that they find and arrest him as soon as possible. They also told them that his wife Karen was pregnant and due to give birth, so they should check local maternity wards in case Burrows was there.

Colin’s freedom was to be short-lived. Police forced entry into his flat and, finding nothing, spoke to the elderly neighbour. She was quick to reveal she’d seen Colin and he had gone to hospital to be with his wife. At the same time, other officers went to Karen’s parents’ address, hammering on the front door. Her mother, frightened out of her wits, opened up. She was certain something terrible had happened, and screamed as they pushed past her, shouting that they were looking for Colin Burrows.

‘He’s at St Mary’s hospital,’ she sobbed.

They radioed back this information, but paid her no attention as they searched her house. She insisted that her daughter had just given birth, and that Colin had permission to be there.

‘No, he hadn’t. He’s an escaped prisoner.’

‘Oh, my God! Oh, my God, my poor daughter! This is awful.’

Sirens blaring and blue lights flashing, two patrol cars, with three officers in each, pulled up in the hospital car park and ran into the building. It was terrible. The nurse on duty was told to keep calm and point out which bed Mrs Burrows was in and if her husband was with her. They made the nurse so nervous that she was gasping for breath, but from the double-doors opening onto the wing, she was able to show them Karen’s bed. The man they wanted was sitting beside his wife, cradling his newborn son in his arms.

Colin couldn’t help but hear the rumpus and, seeing the uniformed police in the doorway and the panic-stricken nurse, he knew his time was up.

He stood, looked them in the eye and turned to Karen.

‘I’m sorry, darling, I lied to you. I never had permission to be here. I pretended to be someone else, and did a runner from prison so I could be with you. It looks like the cops are here for me.’

Three of the uniformed officers entered the ward, trying not to alarm all the new and expectant mothers. One officer called out for everyone to remain calm.

‘Come on out now, Burrows. Don’t scare everyone. Just walk towards us slowly and keep your hands up so we can see them.’

Colin kissed his son on the forehead before handing him to Karen, who was in floods of tears. He leaned forward to kiss her as well, but she turned her head away. He felt totally dejected and rejected as he held his hands up and began to walk between the rows of beds. The noise had woken most of the sleeping babies and they were howling.

As Colin reached the officers, they snatched him and turned him roughly, pressing his face against the wall as they handcuffed his hands tightly behind his back. The cuffs hurt as they pinched his skin. The officers grabbed him under the arms and dragged him forward, slamming his body against the swing doors as they headed for the lifts. They pressed for the lift, but it was on the top floor so they pushed him towards the stairs.

‘There’s no need to be so rough. I’m not causing you any trouble.’

Colin half turned, wanting to explain he was giving himself up quietly and that he had only escaped to be at the birth of his son. Suddenly he lost his footing and, with his hands cuffed behind him, couldn’t regain his balance or grab the safety rail. He fell down an entire flight of the staircase, hitting his head hard against the wall. The officers ran down to help him onto his feet. He had a big round red mark on the side of his head, which was already starting to swell up, and his nose was bleeding.

By the time they got him to the patrol car, blood had dripped down his shirt. The driver got out and quickly opened the rear door.

‘What happened to him?’

‘Tried to do another runner and tripped down the stairs. Banged his nose, but it’s his own bloody fault,’ one officer said and threw Colin onto the back seat.

The patrol car screamed off with its blue light flashing. An officer radioed in to report that they had recaptured Colin Burrows and were taking him back to Barfield Prison.