An escaped prisoner who has been on the run for weeks has reappeared - in a podcast on YouTube.
Greggor Grey escaped from HMP Sudbury, in Derbyshire in mid-May before he rang up his local paper to complain about his time behind bars.
Grey has served 17 years for a sentence of robbery but yesterday appeared on an episode of Birmingham-based podcast The Chop Shop, on YouTube.
Speaking to the podcast’s hosts, Grey said: “Right now, you’ve got a man talking to you on the run. I’m not hiding from nobody, my name’s Greggor Grey.”
He joked with the hosts about being a fugitive and having run away “three weeks and one day ago”. Grey said he decided to escape from prison because of the “heartache” and “injustice” of his imprisonment.
He said that during his incarceration he cried himself to sleep every night.
“The judge gave me four years and 17 years later I’m in there asking the question how long till you send me home?” He continued.
He went on to describe the robbery that led to his imprisonment shortly after his son was born. He said he stripped a man and took his car.
“Hands up I did the crime, I’ll do the time”.
It has been reported that Grey’s initial sentence was four years.
However, he has remained in prison due to being subject to an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence, he said.
Grey teared up as he described his predicament and how he has spent decades behind bars.
IPPs were launched in 2005 but the policy was scrapped in 2012 and described by a former supreme court justice as the “single greatest stain” on the criminal justice system.
But the decision was not applied retrospectively to those like Grey.
“Understand where the anger and the frustration is coming from it’s coming from a place of not knowing what’s going on,” Grey added on the podcast.
He added: “Forgive me if I’m behaving in a way that’s not normal because this is not normal.
“You’re telling me on one hand do the courses [in prison] to bear yourself. I’ve left nothing for them to say he hasn’t done this and everyone knows how I’m moving now is exactly how I move.
“How do I tell my kids I’m soon coming to check on them when they’re 17-years-old? Two boys. Their whole life I don’t know nothing about them.”
He went on to tell the host how he still thought of his mother as a younger woman from the early 2000s but, when he spoke of her, he said he realised how old she's grown.
Grey said he had been through nine parole boards and was technically on one this Monday, as well. He said he didn’t think he would’ve got that one either.
The IPP sentence is described as an “indeterminate sentence targeted at serious offenders”, and means offenders are meant to serve a minimum term before they are able to apply for release from a parole board.
But, the board would only approve the offender’s release if they believe that offender is “sufficiently safe”.
On May 21, Grey rang BirminghamLive to complain about his time in prison and say that he planned to return to prison for his next parole hearing on June 14.
He told the news site: "We're in prison for the last 17 years. It's driving me insane.
"I thought about just giving them [his parole hearing] the raw uncut emotion that I deal with on a daily basis."
A spokesperson for Derbyshire constabulary: "Officers continue to carry out enquiries to locate Greggor Grey who absconded from Sudbury open prison on May 16.
"Anyone who sees him, or knows of his whereabouts, is urged to contact Derbyshire police immediately and not to approach him."
In a previous statement, Derbyshire Police said about the escaped convict: "We are appealing for information after a convict absconded from HMP Sudbury.
"Greggor Grey left the open prison on Sunday 15 May. The 42-year-old who is serving a life sentence for robbery is described as Black, 5ft 11ins tall and of stocky build.
"He is known to use the aliases of Moses Blake, McGreggor Gray and Marcus Osbourne and has links to the Leicester and Birmingham areas.
"Anyone who has seen him or knows of his whereabouts is asked to contact Derbyshire police quoting reference 688-150522. If you see Grey, please do not approach him, but contact police immediately."
