An on-the-run prisoner who called the police on himself has still not been sentenced.

James Brosnan, 40, was on the run for 10 days – having walked out of HMP Ford in Sussex last August.

He eventually called the police from Oxford, telling them where he was but warning officers that he would shoot the constables who came looking for him.

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When armed police officers tracked him down to Jericho, Brosnan had no weapon on him.

Brosnan pleaded guilty last year to a count of escape from lawful custody. But almost six months later, he is still yet to be sentenced.

On Friday (May 5), Oxford Crown Court heard that the defendant’s mental state was in part the cause of the delay. A psychiatric report had ruled him fit, but the prison authorities continued to have real concerns about his mental health.

Recorder Alexander McGregor adjourned the matter in Brosnan’s absence to May 18 and ordered an update about the prisoner’s health from HMP Bullingdon’s governor.