Escaped prisoner back behind bars after taunting police on Facebook
Craig “Lazie” Lynch, 28, who absconded from Hollesley Bay Prison near Woodbridge, Suffolk, in September, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police in Kent on Tuesday night.
He appeared before magistrates in Bexleyheath, south-east London, yesterday charged with escaping from lawful custody.
A fan page for Lynch was set up on the social networking website Facebook.
He developed a following of about 40,000 people globally before the profile was taken down.
Lynch posted comments about his life on the outside on the site. One of the posts, which was written on Christmas Day, read: “Wow it really is xmas ha ha i cant beleive i made it f*** tha police.”
Lynch was belittled by some internet users who tried to encourage him to hand himself in after almost four months on the run.
Yesterday posts on the site celebrated his capture.
A post written by internet user Glen Cliff read: “Now he is back where he belongs in prison. enjoy the added few years added to ya sentence, now its the police turn to laugh at you.”
Police said Lynch was serving a seven-year sentence after being convicted of aggravated burglary.
A Bexleyheath Magistrates’ Court spokeswoman said he is due to appear at Woolwich Crown Court on January 20.
Dubbed the “Facebook fugitive” by media, Lynch – whose profile picture showed him raising his middle finger to the camera – notched up tens of thousands of “friends” from around the world.
A spokesman for London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed Lynch had been recaptured but could not say whether information posted on Facebook had helped officers locate him.
