Puppy Thief Tried To Escape Jail By Swapping Places With Brother

A 24-year-old man jailed for stealing a puppy almost managed to escape confinement after coming up with a plan to switch places with his visiting brother and walk out of the prison.

Puppy thief Elhaj Diarrassouba was convicted last August of robbery in the stealing of a dog worth £3,000 at knifepoint in South Wales.

His plan hinged on using fake £50 notes to con a dog breeder who was advertising puppies for sale online, but things went wrong when the counterfeit notes were spotted, after which he reportedly threatened the seller with a knife and stole the dog.

Dog breeder Adam Moheiz was able to spot the number plate of the car Diarrassouba and his accomplice Joshua McCook escaped in, which belonged to the 24-year-old's girlfriend.

This allowed police to track the thief back to the woman's home and recover the stolen puppy.

Diarrassouba was sentenced to five years in prison for his crimes, McCook received a sentence of three years and nine months, and was incarcerated in HMP Five Wells where he hatched a plan to escape to freedom with the help of his brother.

During a family visit on April 11 he handed his armband used to identify inmates to his brother and hoped guards would not be able to tell the difference between them, thus allowing him to walk out to freedom.

Fortunately, just as he was about to walk out to his freedom, guards were able to spot that their newest inmate was wearing different clothes and quickly put a stop to the escape attempt before any serious breach of security was caused.

Security at the prison is managed by private company G4S, a spokesperson for the group told LADbible: "Vigilant staff immediately intervened and there was no security breach."

Following his unsuccessful escape attempt, Diarrassouba was placed on the prison's escape list and taken to the Care and Separation Unit, he has since been moved to Category A prison HMP Woodhill.

Built on the site of the old HMP Wellingborough prison, Five Wells does not have bars on cell windows, calls prisoners residents and is geared towards rehabilitation.

Following his escape attempt Diarrassouba has traded that away for a high security facility.