Prisoners who go on the run face two more years behind bars as Judges will be given powers to impose an additional penalty

• Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said new measure will stop inmates 'getting away' with absconding
  
• It aims to tackle the 800 inmates a year who abscond rather than be sent back to jail
  

By JACK DOYLE FOR THE DAILY MAIL and JAMES SLACK FOR THE DAILY MAIL

Published: 20:27 EST, 17 January 2014 | Updated: 08:49 EST, 18 January 2014

Prisoners on licence who go on the run after breaking the terms of their release will face up to two additional years behind bars.

The measure will tackle the 800 inmates a year who abscond rather than be sent back to jail – and then face no additional punishment when they are found.

Judges will now be given powers to impose an additional penalty when the offender is returned, depending how long they have been at large.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the new measure will stop inmates 'getting away' with absconding and result in more fugitives being returned quickly to jail

At the moment, criminals simply stay in prison until the end of their original sentence.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said the new measure will stop inmates ‘getting away’ with absconding and result in more fugitives being returned quickly to jail.

Warwick Spinks, known as the 'Pied Piper of Paedophiles', fled abroad for 15 years after his early release from jail in 1997

Warning that ‘punishment must mean punishment’ he added: ‘It is unacceptable that criminals who disregard the law and attempt to evade the authorities are able to do so with impunity.

‘I am today sending a clear message to those people that if you try to avoid serving your sentence you will face the consequences when you are caught.

‘I think the hard-working taxpayers of this country would expect nothing less than tough punishment for offenders who try and beat the system.

‘We’re on the side of people who work hard and want to get on and my message is simple – if you break the law, you will not get away with it.’

The policy, to be formally announced within days, will create a new offence of being unlawfully at large following recall to custody.

Every year around 16,000 criminals on licence are recalled to prison – for committing a further offence, or breaking the terms of their release by contacting their victims, breaking a curfew or going abroad.

Warwick Andrew Spinks, known as the ‘Pied Piper of Paedophiles’, fled abroad for 15 years after his early release from jail in 1997.

But after being hauled back to Britain, the 48-year-old was only forced to serve the remaining three months of his prison term. Under the new system, he could have faced two more years.