Two men who absconded from Castle Huntly were caught when a female friend who picked them up crashed on one of Scotland’s busiest motorways.
Kieran Kiely and Danny Hussain walked out of the open prison near Dundee on July 13 after hatching a plan to go on the run.
However their female driver was unaware of the escape until she overheard them discussing it in the back of the car, causing her to crash on the M80.
Perth Sheriff Court heard a nationwide police alert was issued after police were notified of the incident and it became clear what was unfolding.
Depute fiscal Carol Whyte said: “At the time of the incident he (Kiely) was he was a convicted prisoner, having been sentenced to 30 months at Dumbarton for two charges of assault and robbery aggravated by possession of a knife.
“He had been receiving home leave from Castle Huntly since May 2016.
“At 3.33pm the police were advised of a road traffic accident on the southbound M80 near junction seven.
“Kieran Kiely was identified as a possible passenger.
“A roll call established he was not at Castle Huntly.
“He had been due to go on home leave but he had split up from his girlfriend and her home was no longer available as an approved address so it was cancelled.”
The female driver was initially told the pair were going to Glasgow to collect a passport, before Hussain added: “We’re on the run.”
Solicitor Gaynor Kelly, representing Kiely, said her client had become “extremely anxious” after hearing his grandmother had become seriously ill.
She said: “He was advised that his grandmother was dying of terminal cancer.
“He is close to her and she raised him and his siblings.
“The temptation of the open estate and the information he had been given about his grandmother caused him to leave the prison.
“He’s greatly remorseful and regrets doing what he did – if he could go back he would not have done it.”
Kiely, a prisoner at Glenochil, admitted attempting to defeat the ends of justice by leaving Castle Huntly without authorisation on July 13 this year.
Sheriff Gillian Wade jailed Kiely for a further 12 months.
Hussian had previously admitted the charge and was ordered to serve eight months.
