Convicted rapist escapes during visit to brewery

He escaped after being escorted to the toilet by one of the two prison guards who accompanied him on the trip

Peter Breidenbach, 58, was convicted of rape in conjunction with serious robbery and sexual coercion (Cologne Police)

A convicted rapist has escaped from preventative custody during a visit to a brewery in Cologne.

Peter Breidenbach, 58, was able to escape guards from his prison in Aachen on Wednesday afternoon, a police statement said. He is now on the run.

Breidenbach was able to escape when he was escorted to the toilet by one of the two prison guards who accompanied him on the trip, a spokesman for the North Rhine-Westphalia justice ministry told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger newspaper.

Instead of guarding the prisoner, the guard decided to relieve himself, despite not being able to see the toilet cabinets nor the door from the urinals.

It is unclear whether Breidenbach planned the escape in advance or simply exploited the opportunity.

"This should not have been allowed to happen," the spokesman told the paper, saying either the man who accompanied the prisoner or the second officer should have kept an eye on him.

"He is believed to be extremely dangerous," the spokesman said. "Anyone who sees him should inform the police".

Breidenbach was convicted of rape in conjunction with serious robbery and sexual coercion, and sentenced to nine years in jail in 1991, The Local reports.

He has been in preventative custody since the end of his full jail sentence.

The brewery trip, which was tacked on to a shopping trip in his hometown, was his ninth excursion without handcuffs.