A CONVICTED killer on the run from a local prison for more than a month has been re-arrested in Blackpool.

Neil Morrison admitted manslaughter after kicking a man so violently that it aggravated a condition which led to a ruptured spleen.

Despite the violent nature of his crime, an assessment on Morrison after his conviction in December 2001 saw him allowed to spend his three and a half year sentence at Kirkham.

He left the prison on January 21 and, after a manhunt, he was finally located in Markhill Street, South Shore, early on Wednesday morning.

Morrison, 27, from Morecambe, attacked 40-year-old Andrew Lucas after alleging that he had mistreated his girlfriend. He fell, or lost his balance, and Morrison kicked him in the body.

He died six days later because of complications involving his liver and spleen.

Kirkham governor, David Thomas, said that, although Morrison's offence was manslaughter:

"The fact that he was sentenced to three and a half years in prison suggests that the courts took a fairly lenient view of this in relation to other such offences.

"It is not really a matter for us at Kirkham to make assessments though we did review the case when he came here. The whole point of an open prison is to provide the best possible opportunity to rehabilitate people and give them the skills they need to make reasonable citizens.

"The site is not secure in any sense, which is why we refer to them as absconders.

"They understand that by being here they are improving their prospects for the future

"If anyone runs away it is a considerable setback for them."

Mr Thomas said Morrison is likely to be returned immediately to secure accommodation.

He added that it was rare for prisoners who absconded from Kirkham to ever be returned there.