Sacked prison governor drops case

Michael Howard, the Home Secretary, has been spared the embarrassment of appearing in an industrial tribunal claim brought by sacked Parkhurst Prison governor John Marriott.

Mr Marriott claimed he was made the fall guy for the escape of three lifers from the high security Isle of Wight establishment, but has now dropped out of the complaint of constructive dismissal a month before it was due to be heard. Now a mental health services manager with the Isle of Wight Community Healthcare Trust, Mr Marriott said in a statement to his local paper: "I have run out of energy and feel I shall write my book about the events instead."