article_snippet.sent: Some  have been awol from Ford Open Prison for  as long as 10 years, according to information only now released by Ministry of Justice.
article_snippet.sent: They include those who failed to return from temporary release and those who simply walked out without permission, known as 'absconds'.
article_snippet.sent: A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: 'Prisoners who abscond, fail to return or commit crime while on release will be sent back to closed prisons.'
article_snippet.sent: A Ministry of Justice spokesman added: 'Temporary release can be an important part of rehabilitating offenders but not at the cost of public protection.'
article_snippet.sent: Open prisons like Ford are used for prisoners who are trusted to serve Open prisons like Ford sentences with minimal supervision and perimeter security and are not locked up in prison cells.
article_snippet.sent: Prisoners may be allowed to take up employment while serving Prisoners sentence and leave the site at designated times to go to Prisoners job.
article_snippet.sent: He said: 'The court sentences people to prison because people have lost trust in people. '
article_snippet.sent: So for He, if people walk out of prison, people have broken trust even further and the public should be made aware that. '
article_snippet.sent: people should say, 'so-and-so has walked out of prison and while people don't consider prison a risk to the public, prison should be brought back'.'
article_snippet.sent: The Ministry of Justice says eligibility for open prisons has now been revised as part of 'significant work' to tighten the system.
article_snippet.sent: But Glyn Travis said 'major problems' contributing to prisoners running away still needed to be addressed.
article_snippet.sent: Glyn Travis added: 'There is constant overcrowding and inappropriate prisoners are being sent to open prison when prisoners obviously pose a serious risk to the public.'
highlights_snippet.sent: A total of 39 inmates are at large from Ford Open Prison, West Sussex .
  