Britain's most prolific burglar escapes from open prison

A MAN branded Britain's most prolific burglar has gone on the run after walking out of an open prison.

Serial raider Mark Wrest, 43, is thought to have carried out tens of thousands of burglaries during a lifetime of crime.

He was jailed in July 2005 after being caught red-handed with bags of stolen property from a record number of raids on homes in Cambridge.

At the time of his sentence it was said that Cambridge residents could now breathe easy after he was locked up.

But now Wrest has walked out of Hollesley Bay open prison on the Suffolk coast.

Surely this guy should never have been in an open prison but instead been in a more secure prison? Only very minor criminals should ever be placed in open prisons.

This is why we need prisons and courts that actually punish criminals instead of placing them in prison where even a granny with a Zimmer frame can escape from.