New CCTV released in hunt for absconded murderer

CCTV images appearing to show a murderer walking city streets days after he absconded from open prison has been released as the search to find him continues.

Three men failed to return to HMP Leyhill, South Gloucestershire, on New Year's Day, with the new images showing Daniel Washbourne, 40, and convicted murderer Matthew Armstrong, 35, in Bristol on Saturday and Sunday.

Aaron Thomas, 39, was arrested on Saturday after voluntarily handing himself into police, and appeared in court on Monday.

Avon and Somerset Police said there had been a "number of reported sightings" of the men but there was a "distinct possibility" they had travelled out of the area.

One image released by police shows Armstrong and Washbourne on Ashley Road, Bristol, at about 10:35 GMT on Saturday, heading towards Stokes Croft.

A second CCTV image shows a man walking along Filton Road and then Gloucester Road North in Filton, stopping at one stage to look at bus timetables at about 09:45 on Sunday.

Police said the man was wearing a burgundy coat that matched the one worn by Armstrong when he left HMP Leyhill, and he appears to have continued walking along the same road, having been seen in the Patchway area between 11:05 and 11:15.

The force said detectives were also "following up on other lines of enquiry" but were unable to go into detail to avoid hindering the investigation.

Neither Armstrong nor Washbourne are known to have any connection to the wider Bristol area, and police said they were working with other police forces across the country to help trace them.

Armstrong, who has links to Warwickshire, is described as white, male, about 5ft 9ins, with ginger hair and scars on his forehead.

Washbourne, who has links to Herefordshire, is described as white, male, about 5ft 6ins, slim, with brown hair and is clean shaven.

Police said "urgent actions" had been completed after they were reported to have absconded between 17:00 and 20:00 from the prison on 1 January, including flagging the men as wanted via national police systems.

They added that efforts had also been made to contact the victims and their families of the men through other police forces to share the news "as sensitively as possible".

Open prisons like HMP Leyhill have minimal security compared to other types of prison, and allow eligible prisoners to spend most of their day off site for education or work purposes. Only prisoners who have been risk-assessed and deemed suitable are allowed to be there.

The government confirmed on Monday that a review was under way at HMP Leyhill, amid questions around why the three absconded prisoners - all of whom had been risk-assessed - were in an open prison.

Armstrong was sentenced in 2009, aged 18, for the murder of grandfather 54-year-old Paul Smith in Rugby town centre. He was given a minimum term of 19 years.

Washbourne, police said, is understood to have previous convictions for violence against a person and false imprisonment.

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