Daily Mail
When fugitive Liam Copeland was arrested entering the country, it should have signalled the end of five years on the run. Facing four robbery charges, he was duly delivered to Aylesbury police station in Buckinghamshire to await justice. But instead of spending a night in the cells, Thames Valley Police freed him on bail.
And when his name was called at Aylesbury Crown Court yesterday, he was nowhere to be seen. The 22-year-old, it seems, has gone back on the run. Judge Christopher Tyrer, angrily described the decision to release Copeland as 'beyond comprehension'.
It was at Bletchley rail station, Buckinghamshire, in 1997 that Copeland was arrested after allegedly robbing four youths at knifepoint. In between court appearances he went on the run. He was finally caught early on Monday at Holyhead, North Wales, after arriving on a ferry from Ireland.
Judge Tyrer said: ' Copeland, otherwise known as Liam McGinley, was committed on four robbery charges in 1997 but he absconded and had not been since until yesterday.
'He was arrested and arrived at Aylesbury police station. At 11pm, for reasons that I do not begin to understand, he was bailed. Where on earth the bailing officer thought Mr Copeland was going to live at 11 o'clock at night having come from Sligo is beyond even my comprehension.' He revealed the fugitive was also wanted in Rugby in connection with other offences.
Saying the warrant issued on Monday was now spent, the judge added: 'I shall issue a new one today in the hope that it does not take five years to find him again.' Thames Valley Police blamed a 'grey area' in procedure. 'The warrant says he must be brought before the next available court,' said a spokesman.
A delay in transferring Copeland from Holyhead to Aylesbury meant he did not arrive until late Monday night and this raised questions over whether he was being sent to the next available court sitting, he added.
The spokesman said: 'A decision was taken by the custody sergeant. The judge had one point of view and we had a different perspective.'.
[Questia archive]
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