A Bedfordshire prisoner who went of the run for 11 months said he did not return to the jail from day release because he feared he would be beaten up.
Darren Spicer, 46, said other inmate had told him to smuggle steroids back into HMP Kirkham, near Preston.
He did not want to do and, fearing for his safety, did not return. He slept in a tent and was living a hand to mouth existence, Luton crown court was told on Friday, June 5, 2020.
Prosecutor Liam Edwards said Spicer, previously from Stotfold, Beds had been unlawfully at large from June 15, last year.
When the coronavirus pandemic broke out he moved into a hostel in Brewers Hill Road, Dunstable where he was arrested on May 12 this year.
Mr Edwards said Spicer told the police he had not returned to the jail because it had “substance misuse problems”.
He said: “He believed he would be attacked if he returned without drugs.”
Spicer appeared for sentence from Pentonville Jail, having pleaded guilty to being unlawfully at large.
He had 13 convictions for 25 offences. In August 2018 he was sentenced to 35 months at Carlisle crown court for causing £75,000 damage to a couple’s second home in Windermere.
Defending, Abigail Wright said: “He was identified as someone who would be given day release by other prisoners. He was told he would be expected to purchase drugs and bring them back into prison. He could not speak to prison officers about it.
“He was scared. He had no income and was living in a tent. He was spending his days in the library until the pandemic.” Judge Lynn Tayton QC added a further 8 months to the sentence he was serving saying: “You made no attempt to hand yourself in.”
