A WOLLESCOTE man who walked out of an open prison while doing time has been jailed for an extra four months.

Jason Pettit, of Wynall Lane, who escaped from a jail near Redditch, will serve the additional four months consecutively to a 42-month sentence for burglary and theft.

On Friday March 9, Wolverhampton Crown court heard 28-year-old Pettit left Hewell Grange prison so he could deal with a number of pressing family problems.

Recorder Christopher Thompson QC told Pettit he was sent to the open prison because there was an element of trust.

Mr Thompson added: "What you did was abuse that trust simply by walking out, It is a matter of great concern to the public - the people who abscond from prison."

He said he accepted Pettit had not planned the escape - it was a decision taken on the spur of the moment.' And he concluded: "You have already been punished to a certain extent because your status in the prison system has changed because of what you did."

Mr John Evans defending told the court Pettit had a string of personal problems and his application to the prison governor for compassionate leave had been rejected.

He said Pettit, who admitted escape, had been trusted to work in the ground cutting trees and he suddenly decided - in his "muddled" state of mind - to walk away.

Mr Evans said: "This is the unhappy tale of a man with family problems who was not thinking straight, he is now no longer trusted in the prison and his release date has been put back."