AN inmate who absconded from an open prison and was found waiting for a bus by police is due in court tomorrow (Friday, May 24).

Dean Jackson, 27, was arrested by four police officers after he was spotted near a bus stop on Chester Road, at Stanley in County Durham.

He went missing along with Damien Burns, 39, from category D Hatfield Prison, near Doncaster, on Monday.

Burns, dubbed the Scarborough Slasher, was found hiding in a wardrobe in his home town on Wednesday evening.

Sergeant Dave Clarke said Jackson was detained near The Hill Top pub, also on Wednesday evening.

He said: “He was spotted at a bus stop and detained at the scene.

“There were two plain clothes and two officers in a marked vehicle. They got him under control very quickly and apprehended him.

“At no point was the public in any danger.”

Jackson, from Newcastle, was on remand awaiting sentencing for a theft-related matter.

He will appear before Peterlee magistrates in the morning charged with escaping from lawful custody.

Burn appeared before Scarborough magistrates after he was captured in Wykeham Street, following police out enquiries around the town.

He was ordered to appear before York Crown Court on June 6 and remanded to the category C Hull Prison.

Burns was serving an indeterminate sentence for slashing a teenager across the face is charged escaping from custody.

Justice secretary Chris Grayling announced that prisoners with a history of absconding will no longer be placed in open prisons hours after the escapes.