A PREGNANT 21-year-old avoided a jail sentence after she helped her teenage brother to escape custody.
At a hearing at Chester Crown Court on Monday (October 6), Sarah Roberts, of Durham Road, Blacon, admitted helping Scott Roberts, 18, escape from Chester Magistrates’ Court on May 15.
Prosecutor Peter Hussey said: “Scott was given three months in a young offenders’ institution for breaching a suspended sentence that was imposed in January.
“He shouted obscenities at the magistrates before attempting to run from the court.
“Sarah, who had been sat at the back, grabbed hold of one of the security staff, causing him to topple to the ground and enabling Scott to get away.”
She was arrested the next day for her part in assisting the escape but Scott was not apprehended until September 3, when police found him hiding in a garden at an address in Ellesmere Port.
Peter Moss, defending, said that Scott, also of Durham Road, Blacon had breached the suspended sentence after experiencing some personal problems, adding that Sarah had never been in trouble before.
Judge Nicholas Woodward described the escape bid as “a stupid and impetuous act carried out in the heat of the moment”.
He sentenced Scott to five months in a young offenders’ institution, which will be added to the three months originally imposed by magistrates.
Sarah Roberts was excused from carrying out unpaid work as she is due to give birth and would have a baby to look after. She was given a 12-month conditional discharge.
