A drug dealer who escaped from prison spent nine years living in plain sight under his own name and paying tax in Britain.
In a shocking indictment of the criminal justice system, Robert Fitzgerald, 38, evaded capture for nearly a decade – despite making no attempt to hide his identity.
He was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison for supplying cocaine, and was moved to HMP Ford in East Sussex for the last 18 months of his term before absconding in November 2015.
Sussex Police launched a manhunt and a public appeal, but Fitzgerald was not detained until last month – despite spending years working and paying taxes under his own name.
Detectives warned the public not to approach him and said it was thought he would head to London, where he had connections – but he has been living and working in Oxford.
At Oxford Crown Court, Fitzgerald admitted absconding from lawful custody, He will be sentenced on October 8 after more information about his time on the run has been gathered.
He told the court: ‘I have been working in my own name and paying tax since 2018.’
A Sussex Police spokesman said that when Fitzgerald vanished, the force explored ‘all reasonable lines of enquiry’ until the investigation was scaled back in 2016.
Fitzgerald came to the attention of the financial authorities last December and police arrested him last month, the spokesman added.
His lawyer Gordana Austin said: ‘Mr Fitzgerald is someone who has been at large for a significant period of time – almost nine years.
He was living and working in Oxford using his name. He understands what type of sentence he is likely to receive.’
Fitzgerald will serve the rest of his original sentence at HMP Bullingdon and will likely receive an additional custodial period for fleeing.
Judge Nigel Daly said he was baffled by the case, adding: ‘Quite clearly I am going to need something about him, in particular what he has been doing for the last eight and a half years and why he has not been found before now.
‘One of the things I am going to have to consider is his conduct while he was in prison. I know he was transferred to Ford open prison and they do not send people there unless they are doing particularly well.
‘You have pleaded guilty to this matter which obviously goes to your credit, but you should be aware that it is almost inevitable that you will get a custodial sentence which is likely to be added to your current sentence.
‘We are going to find out what you have been doing for the intervening years and how you got on in prison before you disappeared.’
The shocking case comes a month after an excoriating report found dozens of failures at HMP Wandsworth in south-west London, after Daniel Khalife allegedly escaped last September. An audit found a raft of failings at the Victorian prison, including that CCTV cameras had not worked for more than a year.