Shaun Hewitt may not be one of the most dangerous criminals in our midst.

But the fact that he was able to slip his police guards while receiving treatment at the Churchill Hospital, Oxford, is a matter of public concern.

It is the oldest trick in the book for a prisoner to say he is ill, be taken to hospital, then do a runner.

Clearly Hewitt, a convicted robber, was smarter than those given the task of looking after him.

Now, after this embarrassing lapse, police are having to devote scarce resources to find and recapture him.

Our security record involving prisoners in Oxfordshire recently is not a good one.

One escape from Oxford Crown Court, two from open prisons and the latest one from the Churchill suggest that the system needs to be tightened.