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– The last time anyone tried to escape was on Christmas Eve in 2001. They then managed to get out onto the roof of the airfield and then pounced on ropes. But it tragically ended for one of them as it landed on the ground and broke its arms and legs.
Prison leader Leif Guttormsen of Kristiansand Prison has been working at the prison since it opened in 1977. There have been five escape attempts since then, including the incident this weekend.
– The inmates have escaped, but each time they have been captured shortly after the escape, he says.
Leif Guttormsen says there have been few attempts to escape from Kristiansand prison. On Saturday, he feared that the escape attempt would end in tragedy if the inmate had fallen from the building.
Photo: Morten Klaussen / NRK
Get an escape attempt
Last year, only one person in Norway managed to escape from a closed prison, like the one in Kristiansand. Also, there was a failed escape attempt.
Prison and Probation Service numbers show that few inmates attempt or manage to escape from what is also called a high-security prison.
The open prison, with a low level of security, is more prone to escape. They have less physical security measures than closed prisons.
When someone escapes from that prison, the Prison and Probation Service calls it “evasion.” In 2019, there were 18 low-security prison escapes, compared to 29 the previous year.
By comparison, in 2018, there were an average of 3,425 inmates in Norwegian jails every day.
He came down from the ninth floor
The attempted escape from Kristiansand prison on Saturday was the first from prison in more than 18 years. Three inmates entered a cell and broke the Plexiglas window with a wooden bench. Only one of them chose to continue the escape attempt.
Three inmates used a wooden bench as a ram bucket to break the Plexiglass in a cell window.
Photo: Kristiansand prison
– I guess it was a little scary for the other two to go out the top window. A third man managed to go down to a roof, but he did not come. So the police were in place and in full control, Guttormsen says.
The inmate, who was in custody by assault, had descended six floors on the outside of the building. Police were notified of the incident at 6:50 p.m. and arrested the man at 7:07 p.m.
– Was this planned?
– We suspect it could be. When three pieces suddenly enter a cell and use a bench as a ledge on the window, I don’t think it’s an injection.
– More escape attempts in the spring
Leif Guttormsen says he believes the season may have been a reason for the escape attempt.
– It is ours now, and the inmates become more restless when spring comes, like all of us. Such things often happen this season, he says.
The man must have descended from the ninth floor of the police station and landed on the roof of the courthouse before the police arrived.
Photo: Morten Klaussen / NRK
The three who attempted to escape from the prison are notified and transferred to other jails. The sentence for trial is an additional sentence of up to six months in prison.
– We want to transfer them to other jails because we don’t feel safe staying here. They may try to do the same again, and we should not take that opportunity.
The jail leader says the incident has been reviewed and all routines have been followed. He is glad that no one was injured during the escape attempt.
– It could have been disastrous if it had fallen to the ground. He had no chance of surviving such a fall. We were terrified of that happening. But luckily it ended well.
In an episode of the Robber Radio podcast, carried out by prisoners in Norwegian jails, the prison break was feared. One of the Oslo prison inmates spoke about the time when he and his brother attempted to exchange places during a visit.
