Burnley baseball bat thug flees prison
11:30am Tuesday 18th September 2012 in News
By Chris Adams
FUGITIVE Andrew Raw
A VIOLENT Burnley teenager is back behind bars after he and a fellow inmate went on the run from prison.
Andrew Raw, 19, escaped from the young offenders’ institution at Thorn Cross near Warrington after scaling a perimeter fence.
He was on the loose for more than 24 hours before being arrested 26 miles away.
Raw, of Chislehurst Grove in Lanehead, is serving a 40-month sentence following a brutal drunken attack on a neighbour in September last year.
He was convicted of grievous bodily harm and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place at Burnley Crown Court in November.
Police said Raw went on the run from Thorn Cross after climbing over a six-feet high metal fence.
He was then captured by chance, when he panicked after spotting police on a routine patrol.
Officers noticed his suspicious behaviour, a day after he went on the run, and arrested him.
Raw absconded last Tuesday with Daniel Robinson, also 19, from Byron Crescent in Coppull, near Chorley.
The pair were arrested in Mill Lane in Coppull at 11.50am the following day, having fled across the Cheshire-Lancashire border.
Police investigating a routine call-out in Coppull noticed the two men acting suspiciously before sprinting away from their car. The officers then tracked them down and arrested them.
Robinson is serving two years for aggravated vehicle taking, burglary and theft.
They both appeared in Chorley Magistrates’ Court last week and indicated guilty pleas. They will appear at Preston Crown Court next month.
He was jailed for an attack on 42-year-old lorry driver John Shaw. He ended up in a brace and needed 68 staples in one of his legs after Raw attacked him with a baseball bat.
Previously of Chessington Green, Raw has a record of anti-social and drunken behaviour.
Describing the vicious attack last year, Mr Shaw’s partner, Sharon Strachan, told police she was awoken by noises and saw Raw running down a garden path wielding a two foot long baseball bat.
She said she saw Mr Shaw struck around the head and knocked to the ground before calling the police.
Raw ran off and then he returned with the bat to find Ms Strachan was trying to protect her partner, who was helpless on the ground. Mr Raw’s father then appeared to restrain his son and dragged him away, allowing Mr Shaw to crawl into his hallway.
Thorn Cross is a Category D Young Offenders’ Institution for men aged between 18 to 25, located in the Cheshire village of Appleton Thorn.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said the incident is under investigation.
