Cheshire man among five to escape from high-security Portuguese prison

Mark Cameron Roscaleer and four other men escaped from Vale de Judeus prison, which is 43 miles north of the country’s capital city of Lisbon, on Saturday.

Authorities have launched a manhunt for the quintet, who made their escape by scaling a wall with a ladder thanks to outside help, it is believed, at around 10am local time, or 9am GMT.

Roscaleer, aged 37 and from Runcorn, was behind bars serving a nine-year sentence for kidnap and robbery, according to reports from Portuguese media.

Sentenced in June 2020 after a trial at an Algarve court, he and a co-accused were said to have tortured the victim into revealing the location of cash, having been extradited to appear in court after being found in Spain.

Two Portuguese nationals, as well as men from Argentina and Georgia, make up the five to have absconded.

Mugshots of the escapees have been released by Portuguese authorities (Image: SNCGP)

The former two were serving 25-year sentences for offences of drug trafficking, criminal association, theft, robbery and kidnapping, with the latter two serving time for theft, kidnapping and robbery.

Roscaleer has previous for being on the run, having absconded from HMP Kirkham in Preston in 2015, before handing himself in to police nine days later.

He was in jail at the time serving a sentence of seven years and four months over an incident at an Ellesmere Port pub.

He was one of two armed men wearing masks who threatened to ‘smash a man’s skull’ and stole more than £6,300 from The Gunners Arms in May 2012.

Sindicato Nacional do Corpo da Guarda Prisional, Portugal's national union for prison guards, has shared mugshots of the five escapees on social media.

They have been described as ‘extremely dangerous’, with members of the public warned not to approach them and to contact the authorities if they see them.