6 arrests as police hunt for men who escaped from Yarl's Wood

Six people have been arrested by police searching for eight men who escaped from Yarls Wood.

Three of the men are suspected to have been among the eight who were on the run after breaking out of the immigration removal centre on Friday night (April 28).

And three more men have been arrested for offences connected to the escape, with officers having seized significant amounts of drugs and cash as part of their enquiries.

Bedfordshire Police has now called on the remaining escapees to hand themselves in.

It comes amid multiple arrests and police activity across the country in order to track down those who escaped.

It follows disorder at the Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre on Friday night, when 13 people broke through the centre’s perimeter fence. Five were detained by Bedfordshire Police officers shortly afterwards, while the remaining eight – all seven men in their 20s and one in his 30s – went on the run.

Detective Superintendent William Hodgkinson, leading the police operation, said: “We are following a number of lines of enquiry in this investigation across the country and are determined to do everything we can to bring those responsible to justice.

“This is a serious crime and is being treated as such by our officers and those in law enforcement across the country.

“I would urge anyone involved in this to strongly consider handing themselves in. This would be in their best interests to mitigate the kind of serious criminal sanctions we will look to impose on them when we catch them.

“A number of people who remained at Yarl’s Wood have also been moved into alternative accommodation in the prison estate following Friday’s disturbance, as we and our partners continue to take steps to ensure these kinds of unacceptable scenes do not happen again.”

A man in his 30s and two men in their 20s have been arrested yesterday (Wednesday, May 3) and today (Thursday, May 4) on suspicion of escaping lawful custody in West Yorkshire, north London and south London respectively.

The man in north London was also arrested on suspicion of drugs supply offences and possession of criminal property after police seized a significant amount of cannabis, cash and Class A drugs.

A further two men found at the address were also arrested on suspicion of drugs supply offences, possession of criminal property and harbouring an offender.

In Bedfordshire, a man in his 30s who was detained at Yarl’s Wood was questioned by police on suspicion of violent disorder and criminal damage in connection to Friday’s incident.

He has since been moved to an alternative location.

A man in his 20s from Bedford has also been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in connection to the incident and remains in custody.

A man arrested by police in Warwickshire on Tuesday has been released and will face no further action.