AN inmate escaped through a hole cut in a prison’s perimeter fence because he wanted to pay his respects to a dead relative.

Davey Pattison had suffered a series of family bereavements and the death of his cousin last December was the latest.

When he heard of another prisoner’s plan to flee from HMP Kirklevington Grange on Teesside, Pattison decided to join him.

The 25-year-old planned to lie low in Darlington until he could join the rest of his family to visit a chapel of rest in South Yorkshire.

But he was less than inconspicuous when he was one of two bare-chested men looking to square up to each other – and they were caught on CCTV.

Pattison was picked up by police at 4.20am on December 23 – a week after his escape – under the influence of cocaine and alcohol, and told officers: “I’m a wanted man.”

He was serving an eight-year sentence imposed in 2016 for attempted robbery when he burst into the home of a couple with a knife.

He is thought to have gone to the property to carry out a “taxing” – taking money or drugs from a dealer or rival – but got the wrong house.

Pattison, who has previous knife crimes on his record, left his victims fearing for their lives, Teesside Crown Court heard.

He had done so well while behind bars, he was moved to the Category D open prison near Yarm to finish his sentence, and was due for release in October.

But he has now had a further six months added to his term after pleading guilty to escaping from lawful custody.

Dan Cordey, mitigating, said Pattison, of Calder Avenue, Darlington, had his own room and key at Kirklevington Grange because he was doing so well.

“For the sake of this jaunt for a week or so, he has thrown that away,” Mr Cordey said. “When he was apprehended, he was taken to Durham Prison, a very different regime.

“He has already, to a certain extent, suffered some self-imposed punishment, and because of his escape, it will follow him around in the sense he will not go to a Category D prison. He will finish his sentence in Durham.”

Judge Howard Crowson told Pattison: “During the time you were serving your sentence, you received some very bad news about the loss of relatives, and just before your escape you heard of another death and took advantage of the fact somebody else was planning to escape, and went through a hole cut for them.

“Having escaped, you didn’t leave the area and went home, effectively. You were found a short time later, and you were found because you drew attention to yourself

“While there may have been an understandable motive for you leaving, it doesn’t do you much credit when you were found you had taken advantage of your new-found freedom to have drugs and alcohol.”

Mr Cordey said: “He didn’t go very far. He went back to his old haunts in Darlington and sofa-surfed for a week because he as due to go to the chapel of rest in Barnsley where his cousin was.

“It is a travelling family background. In the week or so he was trying to keep out of the clutches of the police.

“He had no assistance or particular plan what to do when he was out there. He just wanted to stay at liberty to pay his respects, but he drew the attention of the police.”