April 18, 2023 12.30 pm This story is over 26 months old

Convicted rapist charged nearly five months after prison abscond

He is due at court in Lincoln
Paul Marshall was reported missing from the prison on November 22, 2022 . | Photo: Lincolnshire Police
By Local Democracy Reporter

A 54-year-old man who absconded from HMP North Sea Camp last year has been charged with being unlawfully at large, following his arrest.

Paul Marshall, 54, was serving a life sentence for rape and wounding with intent, and failed to return to North Sea Camp near Boston in November last year, after he was out on temporary licence.

Colleagues from both Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire Police began a search for Marshall, which ended up spilling over into 2023.

The convicted sex offender was eventually caught and arrested in Humberside on Sunday, April 16, where he was transferred to Lincolnshire Police.

Lincolnshire officers charged Marshall with being unlawfully at large from North Sea Camp between November 22, 2022 and April 16, 2023.

He is due to appear at Lincoln Magistrates Court on Tuesday, April 18.

Boston and Skegness MP Matt Warman previously said the “fault lies with the system that puts people in the wrong kind of prison” after Marshall absconded from HMP North Sea Camp.

The local MP later told The Lincolnite that, despite it being the first abscond since a tightening of the open prison system, it was a “sign of failure”.

He added that it is important to look at various factors when considering those placed in open prisons.

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