Prisoner on the run after fleeing on Christmas Day

Police are hunting a man who fled prison on Christmas Day.

Mahad Elmi, 27, left the open jail in Buckinghamshire and is now unlawfully at large, Thames Valley Police said.

The force said he absconded from HMP Springhill, near the village of Grendon Underwood, overnight from on Thursday into Boxing Day.

The prison, which houses more than 300 inmates, is classed as Category D which, according to the Prison Service, means it has “minimal security and allow(s) eligible prisoners to spend most of their day away from the prison on licence to carry out work, education or for other resettlement purposes”.

Thames Valley Police said Elmi was a “black man, around 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build and has medium-length black hair, a beard and brown eyes”.

The force said he has links to south-west London.

Detective Sergeant Matthew French, of Buckinghamshire’s Priority Crime Team, said: “We are appealing for the help of the public to trace Mahad Elmi, who is unlawfully at large after leaving and not returning to HMP Springhill.

“If you see Elmi, do not approach him and call 999 instead.

“If you have any information as to where Elmi may be, please call 101 or make a report online, quoting reference number 43250653119.”