Police are searching for two men who escaped from Pentonville prison using diamond-tipped cutting equipment to break through cell bars before scaling the walls. Matthew Baker, 28, was awaiting sentence for attempted murder, and James Whitlock, 31, was on remand for burglary.
Escapes from British prisons are rare but often make headlines. One of the most famous was in 1965 when Ronnie Biggs, a Great Train Robber, escaped from HMP Wandsworth using a rope ladder and a removals van. He spent 36 years on the run before returning voluntarily in 2001 and was released on compassionate grounds in 2009.
Former Soviet double agent George Blake escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in 1966 using a rope ladder with rungs made from knitting needles. He fled to the Soviet Union and is believed to still live in Moscow.
The largest prison escape in British history occurred on 25 September 1983 when 38 IRA prisoners broke out of the Maze prison in County Antrim. They took guards hostage, killing one and injuring another, before hijacking a food lorry. Fifteen were recaptured within hours, and most others were eventually found.
In June 2012, John Massey, one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners, escaped from Pentonville by hiding in the gym and scaling the wall with a makeshift rope. He had previously escaped from Coldingley prison in 1994 and absconded from Ford open prison in 2007.
Other notable escapes include Pearse McAuley and Nessan Quinlivan from Brixton in 1991, and John Straffen from Broadmoor in 1952, who murdered a five-year-old girl within an hour of escaping.
