20 killers on run and some have been free for 20 years
MORE than 20 killers remain at large despite being recalled to prison, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.
They are among nearly 1,000 freed prisoners who should be back behind bars because they have either committed new crimes or breached the conditions of their release.
Some have been on the run since the 1980s, and more than a quarter are foreign nationals, including many who should have been deported.
A total of 106,969 former convicts in England and Wales had their licences revoked and were recalled to prison between April 1999 and March this year, figures showed.
A total of 914 are still evading the authorities, including 22 who were recalled before 1999.
They include 18 murderers, four people convicted of manslaughter, and 32 sex offenders including 12 rapists or attempted rapists.
The MoJ said: “The Government is committed to public protection and will do everything necessary in order to ensure this happens.”
