Man Gets 4 Years for Escape from Open Prison in Ehime

September 28, 2018

Matsuyama, Ehime Pref.- Matsuyama District Court sentenced a 27-year-old man to a four-year prison term on Friday over his escape from an open prison in Imabari, Ehime Prefecture, western Japan, earlier this year.

According to the ruling and other sources, Tatsuma Hirao broke out of a dormitory for model inmates while working at a shipyard in Imabari on the evening of April 8. While on the run, he stole a vehicle from a private house in the city.

On April 30, Hirao was captured by police in the city of Hiroshima, where he is believed to have reached after swimming several hundred meters across the sea around April 24.

Handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Yoichi Suehiro suggested that Hirao had escaped for reasons including his desire to flee human relations within the Imabari facility.

The judge deemed the getaway a malicious act that disrespected the purpose of the open prison, which is managed on the premise of trust between inmates and officers, as well as the self-control of inmates.

Prior to the ruling, Hirao told the court that he should never have carried out the escape for any reason.

The four-year term compares with the prosecutors' request for six years.

The Imabari shipyard, also known as a "prison without walls," was established in 1961. Since then, there have been 17 escapes involving a total of 20 inmates, according to the Justice Ministry.

The latest case prompted the ministry to draw up preventive measures including the introduction of an entry-exit management system and infrared sensors. The ministry, however, stopped short of attaching Global Positioning System devices to inmates, since such a measure would contradict the purpose of the open prison.

The ministry has also decided to scrap the autonomous structure of the prison, concluding that this had created hierarchical relations among inmates. Jiji Press