A resident of the Dutch city of Gouda will be back in court on Friday 26 April. On December 28, last year, an earlier sentence ended for him. He walked out of prison De Schie in Rotterdam towards his freedom but smuggled a prisoner outside and that is not allowed.

The man was given a transport trolley to take his personal belongings out of prison. Then the other jail customer ‘hitched’ along in a garbage bag. The prisoner, who is small in size, crawled into the bag that was tied by his ‘buddy’. Once outside, the prisoner tore the bag and emerged.

According to other detainees, a prison worker walked with Gouwenaar during the escape. The garbage bag did not attract attention, much to the hilarity of these prisoners. The suspect from Gouda was arrested in January. The man he let escape is still on the run.

Escape from prison is, just like here, not punishable under Dutch criminal law. “The man who helped is being prosecuted for that”, said the spokesperson of the Custodial Institutions Department earlier. “In addition, it is true that a prisoner is rewarded for good behavior and that sanctions follow for bad behavior.”