On 29 July 2025 a Prisoner, Justin Skerritt-Riley, escaped from lawful custody while on a prison escort from HMP Anguilla to the Princess Alexandra Hospital. He was recaptured by French Police in St Martin on Tuesday 5th August 2025. He was subsequently transferred by the French Authorities to a prison in Guadeloupe pending further legal steps.
I have today submitted a request to the French Authorities in Paris seeking Mr Skerritt-Riley’s return to Anguilla to stand trial. I anticipate that it is likely to take some time and given ongoing legal proceedings I will not be able to provide a running commentary on Mr Skerritt-Riley’s case.
I’m hugely grateful to the Commissioner of Police, members of the Royal Anguilla Police Force, supported by prison officers from HMP Anguilla, who worked around the clock to identify Mr Skerritt-Riley’s whereabouts following his escape. I am also grateful to our French and Dutch law enforcement counterparts who worked so closely with the RAPF on this case.
I do want to pay a particular tribute to the many members of the public who provided invaluable intelligence to the police. It was truly heartening to see our community come together to support the police efforts in this way – they played a vital role in his recapture.
I recognise the huge level of anxiety this escape caused for the community and the significant impact on police and prison resources at one of the busiest times of the year. I immediately commissioned an independent investigation into the circumstances of the escape. A senior member of the UK Prison service was in Anguilla last week to conduct that investigation and I have now received their draft report.
While the report praises the response of individual prison officers immediately following the escape, it identifies a series of recommendations for urgent improvements to internal security procedures and practices at the prison. I have discussed those recommendations with the Prison Superintendent who has been fully supportive of the review. She and senior officers in the prison will be working to implement those recommendations, reporting to my office, as a top priority over the coming days and weeks.
Members of the public will understand that given the detailed analysis of prison security measures I am not able to publish the report itself.
