Prisoner on the run after escaping on Christmas Day

Police are looking for a man who escaped prison on Christmas Day. 

Mahad Elmi, 27, is on the run after escaping from HMP Spring Hill in Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley Police said.

The incident occurred overnight from Thursday into Boxing Day, when Elmi absconded from the open prison, near the village of Grendon Underwood.

HMP Spring Hill, which houses over 300 inmates, is a Category D facility with "minimal security" that allows eligible prisoners to spend much of their day away from the prison on licence for work, education, or resettlement activities.

Thames Valley Police described Elmi as a "black man, around 5ft 8ins tall, of medium build, with medium-length black hair, a beard, and brown eyes".

He is known to have connections to southwest London.

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The force said Elmi "no longer has any authority or lawful licence to be in the community and is therefore considered unlawfully at large".

Detective Sergeant Matthew French, from Buckinghamshire's Priority Crime Team, said: "We are appealing for the help of the public to trace Mahad Elmi, who is unlawfully at large after leaving and not returning to HMP Spring Hill.

"If you see Elmi, do not approach him and call 999 instead."

(c) Sky News 2025: Prisoner on the run after escaping on Christmas Day