Inmate escapes prison to spend two nights with wife at luxury hotel, but is captured after posting on Facebook

Douglas Ward, who is serving five years for a firearms offence, boasted he was 'out for the day' on Facebook

(Stock image (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

A prison inmate who escaped from jail and stayed in a luxury hotel for two nights was caught after bragging about his excursion on Facebook, a court reportedly heard.

Douglas Ward, 26, who is serving five years for a firearms offence, absconded from HMP North Sea Camp near Boston in Lincolnshire to enjoy a couple of nights with his wife at a nearby hotel.

Ward booked himself and his wife into the Cley Hall Hotel under his own name and gave his credit card details to pay for an executive room, which cost £110 a night.

He was only discovered after a suspicious hotel manager found Facebook pictures of the pair drinking the contens of the mini-bar. Beneath the pictures the convict's friends had left messages asking if he had been released from prison, to which he replied saying he was "out for the day", the Lincolnshire Echo reports.

Michael Cranmer-Brown, prosecuting, told the court:“He was a bit suspicious. The manager was concerned there may be some adverse comments on Facebook and made some inquiries.

“He discovered some photographs had been uploaded on Facebook which showed the two of them consuming the contents of the mini-bar and noticed that the defendant's Facebook profile showed he was living at HMP Strangeways."

Mr Cranmer-Brown also said Ward had evaded four roll call checks at the prison, the Daily Telegraph reports.

Upon seeing Ward's Facebook post, hotel staff alerted the authorities and arrangements were made for Ward to be moved to a more secure jail.

Ward admitted three charges of escaping from prison and was jailed for 15 months to run concurrently with his original 64-month sentence.