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| Jail escapee was convicted rapist | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| A life-sentence prisoner who is on the run in Northern Ireland had previously been convicted of rape. | |
| Mark Thomas Clarke, 40, was attending a a pre-release training course at Nutts Corner, County Antrim, when he absconded on Tuesday. | |
| Clarke was jailed in 1996 for kidnapping and attempted rape and given a minimum nine-and-a-half year tariff. | Clarke was jailed in 1996 for kidnapping and attempted rape and given a minimum nine-and-a-half year tariff. |
| Those offences happened 15 months after he was freed early from a nine-year sentence for rape. | |
| He had served four and a half years. | |
| Clarke was in the third stage of a pre-release programme monitored by the Prison Service when he fled. | |
| Chairman of the Prison Officers' Association Finlay Spratt said he believed Clarke would be caught. | |
| Mr Spratt said: "When he is eventually arrested he will then be returned to a closed facility, he will be returned back to Maghaberry. | |
| "All this prisoner has managed to do is actually jeopardise his release. | "All this prisoner has managed to do is actually jeopardise his release. |
| "He has put back his release, he has actually broken trust that was placed in him by the parole board which recommended that he should be facilitated in this scheme." | "He has put back his release, he has actually broken trust that was placed in him by the parole board which recommended that he should be facilitated in this scheme." |
| Clarke had recently progressed to "living in the community", under Prison Service supervision. | Clarke had recently progressed to "living in the community", under Prison Service supervision. |
| A Prison Service statement said: "The protection of the public is paramount and the Prison Service are working closely with our colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland to apprehend the prisoner." | A Prison Service statement said: "The protection of the public is paramount and the Prison Service are working closely with our colleagues in the Police Service of Northern Ireland to apprehend the prisoner." |
| Three other prisoners are currently at large in Northern Ireland, according to the Prison Service website. | Three other prisoners are currently at large in Northern Ireland, according to the Prison Service website. |