An escaped prisoner who has been on the run for over three weeks has appeared on a podcast, saying being in prison was causing him “heartache”.
Greggor Grey, who has so far served 17 years of a sentence for robbery, escaped from HMP Sudbury in Derbyshire in mid-May.
While on the run, Grey appeared in an episode of the Birmingham-based podcast The Chop Shop, which was released on Wednesday.
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 said.
He added that he escaped from prison because of the “injustice and heartache” he experience being incarcerated, adding that he cried himself to sleep every night while in prison.
It has been reported that Grey’s initial sentence was four years, but that he has remained in prison due to being subject to an Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence.
The IPP sentence, which is described as an “indeterminate sentence targeted at serious offenders”, means that offenders are meant to serve a minimum term before they are able to apply for release from a parole board. However, the board would only approve the offender’s release if they believe that offender is “sufficiently safe”.
Although the IPP sentence was launched in 2005, the policy was scrapped in 2012, after being described as the “single greatest stain” on the criminal justice system by a former supreme court justice. The decision was not applied retrospectively, so those already subject to an IPP sentence continued to be so.
On 21 May, BirminghamLive reported that Grey had called one of their reporters, saying that being in prison was driving him “insane”, and that he planned to return to prison before his next parole hearing on 14 June.
In a previous statement, Derbyshire constabulary said: “We are appealing for information after a convict absconded from HMP Sudbury.
“Greggor Grey left the open prison [on 15 May], 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.”
